Michael W. Twitty is a culinary historian and food writer from the Washington D.C. area. He blogs at Afroculinaria.com. He’s appeared on Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern, Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates and most recently Taste the Nation with Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi.

HarperCollins released Twitty’s “The Cooking Gene”, in 2017, tracing his ancestry through food from Africa to America and from slavery to freedom, a finalist for The Kirkus Prize and The Art of Eating Prize and a 3rd place winner of Barnes & Noble's Discover New Writer's Awards in Nonfiction.

“The Cooking Gene” won the 2018 James Beard Award for best writing as well as book of the year, making him the first Black author so awarded. His piece on visiting Ghana in Bon Appetit was included in Best Food Writing in 2019 and was nominated for a 2019 James Beard Award. His next book, “Rice” became available through UNC Press in 2021. “KosherSoul”, his follow up to The Cooking Gene, will be out in August 2022 through HarperCollins. Twitty has a hit spice line based on “The Cooking Gene” and a recent special guest appearance on Michelle Obama's Waffles and Mochi show on Netflix.

Food, Food & Wine, Food & Beverage, Food industry, Chef, Cooking, Jewish, Jewish Heritage, Judaism, Black Heritage, Black History Month, African-American Research, Race, Racism, Authors, Writers, Writer and editor, Writing, Blogging, American History, Historians & Biographers, James Beard Award, BLM Diversity, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Voices, Culture, History, Top Chef, Lifestyle, Restaurants & Dining, Social Issues, Body Image, Self-Image, Self-Esteem, Mental Health, Speaking Engagements, Social Justice, Social Activism,