Michael Twitty.
If cotton was king of the historical South, Michael Twitty considers rice to be its queen. The James Beard Award–winning author’s first book, the critically acclaimed
Rice: A Savor the South Cookbook, is the new entry in UNC Press’s cookbook series, which supports book-length deep dives into the background of single ingredients such as corn, greens, bacon, and bourbon staples considered essential to Southern cooking.
:
Rice, which contains fifty-one recipes featuring and supporting the grain including jollof rice, curried rice salad, and Carolina pilau focuses Twitty’s critical acumen on an ingredient so versatile it has the power to become the main course, a side dish, or dessert. Written in praise of the globally important and endlessly adaptable food, Twitty traces rice’s journey from Africa through the Caribbean and into the American South. Here, Twitty shares his thoughts on culinary nostalgia, how his Judaism influences his approach to cooking