Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty’s new cookbook traces the history and cultural context for each recipe he shares.
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Michael W. Twitty wants to set the record straight on Southern food: it’s not just heavy fried meats and sweet tea by the pitcher-full. In his new, hefty cookbook that surveys the region, Recipes from the American South, the James Beard Award-winning author is teaching home cooks how to make food that better reflects the region’s complex, messy and still-evolving history.
I recently spent the day cooking and talking with Twitty at his home in Virginia. We started out on a cool September morning in Twitty’s garden, where I admired the huge variety of produce that he grows. There are peppers. Beans. Corn. Cabbage. All kinds of herbs. Plus, boxes of cotton plants and peanuts, which Twitty grows to acknowledge his enslaved ancestors.
A tractor passes by Twitty’s garden at his home in Virginia.
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“It’s something people haven’t seen,” he remarked. “It’s part of my heritage. I grow different varieties that are heirlooms. They’re not meant for, like, commercial production. They’re just meant to preserve the seed. And show people what’s what.”
From one of the herb beds, he grabbed some fresh parsley and offered up a bouquet. It smelled amazing – vibrant and verdant.
Twitty grows okra (left) and cotton — among other produce. He grows cotton and peanuts to acknowledge his enslaved ancestors.
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Almost all the produce we’re cooking today is out of his garden. We’re almost at the end of tomato season, so these sweet little jewels figure prominently in our meal. That’s one of the many things that Twitty wants the wider world to understand: Southern food, at its core, is deeply seasonal.
Today, the garden is absolutely bursting with okra — the essential African vegetable that became prized in the American South — so we’re making okra soup, red rice and slow-simmered green beans in a rich, meaty broth. Twitty is Jewish and observant – which he wrote about at length in one of his other books, Koshersoul — and we’re swapping in beef bacon for the more traditional pork version.
Twitty’s home was cozy and bright, full of hundreds and hundreds of books and objects collected from his travels. “This is a maximalist household,” he observed.
Twitty smells freshly picked parsley from his garden.
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We paused at the entrance to his kitchen to admire some mementos hung on the wall. He said it’s like an altar.
“So this is my great grandmother, grandmother and mother’s hot comb. And so I put it like a mezuzah at the door.” He pointed to another object, saying, “My grandmother’s church fan, a fan from Ghana.”
“I make sure this space is kept sacred to me,” he said. “I understand it has to be entered with respect. So this is for the mothers.”
Everything with Twitty is like that — considered, curated, special. The recipes, too. Twitty traces the history and cultural context for each one he shares in Recipes from the American South. He said he wants to honor the tapestry of Indigenous, African, European and Asian peoples who created all these dishes by using the techniques they already knew with local ingredients they found here, in the American South.
Left: A wall is adorned with fans and other artifacts from Twitty’s family and his travels. Right: Branches of dried cotton are in a vase next to bookcases stacked high with books.
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“We all had to make do with what we had in the places that we were,” he said.
What kind of food is showcased in his book? Homemade New Orleans-style beignet donuts. Chinese-style collard greens by way of Mississippi. Pickled peaches. Country captain chicken. It’s all Southern food, Twitty noted. And all the recipes in this hefty tome are accessible to the home cook.
Twitty said he doesn’t want to preach at the public, but he also wanted to acknowledge and teach the region’s complicated history — and he said that for far too long, Black chefs and food writers have not been part of that larger conversation.
“An African American writer of southern heritage can most definitely tell the story of the Cajuns, the Chinese from Mississippi, the Kurds, the Latinos, everybody,” he said emphatically while slicing okra. “You know, put everybody in a story that tells the story of the South as a family. We’re a dysfunctional family, but we’re still a family.”
Twitty grabs serving bowls from his kitchen cabinet.
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Any dysfunctional, messy family needs some kind of catharsis. Twitty said he finds it both writing on the page and cooking in the kitchen.
“For me,” he said, “it’s mental health work. I don’t think a lot of people understand what it means to be immigrants, what it means to be an exile people, what it means to be a diaspora people, what it means to be oppressed, what it means to have to work within the bounds of poverty. And when you do learn how to cook that way and feel that way and understand yourself, it is very healing. It’s very corrective.”
We finally sat down in the dining room to enjoy the meal we prepared. The flavors were delicious, and all those homegrown foods were deeply satisfying. And at Michael Twitty’s table, everyone is welcome.
Left: Twitty slices okra onto a cutting board. Right: The completed Okra Soup from his latest cookbook.
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Okra Soup
This okra soup is a signature dish of the Tidewater South, ranging from Maryland to Georgia. Okra, which came from West Africa via the Afro-Caribbean world, unites the South with the rest of the African Atlantic. It is without a roux, and although it can be made with proteins (see the variation), it works perfectly as a meatless dish.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 55-60 minutes
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon fat
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups (330 g) corn kernels, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup (180 g) diced red heirloom tomatoes
- 1 can (28 oz/794 g) diced (chopped) tomatoes
- 4 cups (32 fl oz/950 ml) vegetable or chicken stock
- Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter
- 2 ½ cups (290 g) thinly sliced okra
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Cooked white rice, for serving
DIRECTIONS
In a large Dutch oven (casserole dish) or heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the corn, fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, stock, and salt and black pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30–35 minutes, until the flavors are well combined.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the okra, cayenne, and salt and black pepper to taste. Sauté, stirring often, until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Once the broth has finished cooking, add the okra, taste, and add additional seasoning as preferred. Cover and cook over medium heat until the okra is soft and imbued with the broth, 10–15 minutes.
Enjoy with a spoonful of rice in each bowl.
STORAGE: Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
VARIATION: About 1 cup (235 g) diced raw beef or chicken makes a great addition. Add to the broth before adding the okra.
Adapted from RECIPES FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH by Michael W. Twitty (Phaidon, 2025)
Edited by Jennifer Vanasco for broadcast and web.