Koshersoul is the subject as the Berman Center for Jewish Studies presents a lecture by Michael W. Twitty, a James Beard award-winning author and culinary historian, Nov. 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Wood Dining Room of Iacocca Hall. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is suggested but not required.
Koshersoul is a term Twitty uses to define the amalgamation of his heritage and his cooking. It investigates the intersections of African and Jewish diaspora cuisines and identities. In Twitty’s own words, “Koshersoul is chicken soup for the soul of Jews of African descent, the American and global Jewish peoplehood, and folks in between.”
“Michael Twitty is one of the most important writers in the Jewish American community today, and the Berman Center is thrilled to bring him to Lehigh,” said Jodi Eichler-Levine, director of the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies. “His vibrant memoir invites us to ask hard questions about racism and to witness joyous celebrations of family, all through the lenses of food and Jewish life.”
Twitty’s 2017 book, "The Cooking Gene," traced his ancestry through food from Africa to America and from slavery to freedom. It 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 2022 book, "Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew," won the National Jewish Book Award for book of the year. He is also the author of "Rice," published in 2021.
In addition to his award-winning books, his article in "Bon Appetit" about on visiting Ghana was included in Best Food Writing in 2019, among other accolades. Twitty blogs at Afroculinaria.com, the first blog devoted to African American historic foods and their heritages. He has been honored by FirstWeFeast.com as one of the 20 greatest food bloggers of all time, named one of the “Fifty People Who Are Changing the South” by Southern Living and one of the “Five Cheftavists to Watch” by TakePart.com. Twitty has appeared in the media extensively, including on NPR’s “The Splendid Table,” and has given more than 250 talks in the United States and abroad. His work has also appeared in Ebony and the Guardian. He has appeared on Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmern, Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Taste the Nation with Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi, and Michelle Obama's Waffles and Mochi show on Netflix. He is also a Smith fellow with the Southern Foodways Alliance, a TED fellow and speaker, and the first Revolutionary in Residence at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Created in 1984, the Philip and Muriel Berman Center has been the home of Jewish Studies at Lehigh. The center serves as both a research institute and the home of an interdisciplinary curricular program. Its work bridges many academic fields, including the arts, history, international relations, languages, literature, and religious studies. The Berman Center is home to a Jewish studies minor and offers a robust selection of courses. As a research institute, it supports and promotes the research of the center’s affiliated faculty. In addition to public lectures for the Lehigh community and its neighbors, the Berman Center sponsors colloquia, seminars, and conferences, both at Lehigh and at locations internationally, including Groningen, Netherlands and Oxford, England.