Shelf Life

Tag: Harper Collins

  • Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

    Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty

    “most importantly, Twitty reminds us that you don’t have to be Black or Jewish to love koshersoul.”

    Both a cookbook and a memoir, Koshersoul (Amistad) explores the food traditions of both Black and Jewish cultures and how for Black Jewish people, the two combine, becoming a distinctive foodway of its own.

    “When I first started talking about developing this book, a fellow African American food writer asked what it was about, saying ‘So you’re not writing about Black [food]; you’re writing about Jewish [food)],” writes Michael W. Twitty, a culinary historian, living history interpreter, and Judiacs teacher in the introduction to his book.  “My response was reflective: no this is a book about a part of Black food that’s also Jewish food; This is a book about Jewish food that’s also Black food because it’s a book about Black people who are Jewish and Jewish people who are Black.”

    Twitty, creator of Afroculinaria, the first blog devoted to African American history, foodways, and their legacy, won both the 2018 James Beard Foundation Book of the Year Award and Best Writing Award for The Cooking Gene. His writing is thoughtful, deep, and involved, taking a deep dive into his personal history and combining it with his conversations with other Black Jews. He seeks to put this in a historical and cultural perspective, showing us how food and identity converge.

    “Black and Jews in their Venn diagram have seen considerable turmoil and pain,” he writes “and this too is a fundamental ingredient.”

    But no matter what is going on in the world or what has happened in the past, we all have an urge and need to eat, writes Twitty, plus an enjoyment of what we consume. This is reflected not only in his writing but also in the recipes he shares at the back of the book.

    Twitty describes this section as a koshersoul community cookbook of sorts. He encourages readers when in the kitchen to feel free to adapt them to meet their own dietary practices and preferences.

    The recipes presented here are categorized under holidays and religious observations: Juneteenth, Pesach/Passover, Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur-Sukkot, and Shabbat, among others.

    The names of some of the recipes represent the different lands and regions where people came from such as Ghanian Pepper Sauce, Senegalese-Inspired Chicken Soup, Jamaican Jerk Chicken Spaghetti, West Africa Wet Seasoning, and Gullah-Geechee-Inspired Stew.

    Others like Yam Latkes, Kosher Spring Rolls, Collard Green Kreplach Filling, Black Eyed-Peas with Tomatoes, Sephardic Style, and Matzoh Meal Fried Chicken define the merging of two different cultures that meld into a distinct foodway.

    But most importantly, Twitty reminds us that you don’t have to be Black or Jewish to love koshersoul.

    Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

    Serves 4 to 6

    Black-eyed peas are a strong link between the two Diaspora cuisines, probably meeting in the Nile River Valley and the Fertile Crescent. Originally from ancient West Africa, black-eyed peas are a significant part of the cuisine of the Levant to this day, moving with African people throughout the region. Hummus, emblematic and beloved by many cultures in the Levant—is a dish that relies on the staple legume of the Arab farmer and ancient biblical standby, the chickpea. Here the black-eyed pea, loaded with mystical symbolism and its own honored place in West and Central Africa, replaces the chickpea. — Michael Twitty

    • 1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
    • 1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1⁄3 cup tahini
    • 1⁄2 cup fresh lemon juice
    • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
    • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
    • 1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon ground coriander
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
    • 1 teaspoon brown or turbinado sugar
    • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
    • 2 teaspoons minced parsley, for garnish

    Throw everything but the parsley into a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add more spice, hot sauce, or whatever you think it needs. To serve, sprinkle parsley and drizzle olive oil on the top.

    This article originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

  • Seduction, Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood

    Seduction, Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood

    When it comes to the #MeToo movement, Karina Longworth, author of the just released Seduction, Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood, is surprised. But not in the way you might expect.

    “I’m more surprised that people seem to think everything has changed with a snap of a finger,” says Longworth. “Centuries of institutionalized sexism can’t be fixed that cleanly or easily. Especially in Hollywood—although you don’t have to look further than our national daily political drama to see that toxic and dehumanizing ideas about women are still the rule more than the exception.”

    To tell the stories of Hollywood and its famed casting couch, Longworth chose oil magnate, inventor and movie producer Howard Hughes as a way to link the exploitation of women then and now by providing a group portrait of ten actresses who were romantically and/or professionally involved with Howard Hughes, from the late 1920s through the end of the 1950s.

     “Howard Hughes is remembered as one of the great playboys of the 20th century, and when this is discussed, a seemingly endless list of actresses is breathlessly unfurled,” says Longworth. “Reading such lists, I became interested in exploring the very full lives and careers each actress had, and what role being one of Howard Hughes’s girls played in their stardom. I decided to use Hughes as a kind of Trojan Horse through which I could tell the stories of ten actresses, both still famous and forgotten, whose lives and careers were impacted by his interest in them.

    Her research was extensive and turned up some interesting documents including a memo Howard Hughes once drafted about actress Jane Russell’s breasts, a subject he was fanatic about, so much so that he designed a bra to showcase them.

                  Longworth, the creator and author of You Must Remember This podcasts about the scandalous secret history of 20th-century Hollywood which has hundreds of thousands of listeners, is also the author of books about George Lucas, Al Pacino, and Meryl Streep. She’ll be in Chicago on Monday, January 14 for a book signing as well as the screening of Outrage, a 1950 movie directed by the sultry actress Ida Lupino about a woman whose life is almost destroyed by rape.

                  “Outrage deals with a uniquely female situation in a uniquely empathetic way,” writes Longworth about the movie. “After such a violation, it asks, how could a woman learn how to be around men again, to trust them, to let them touch her?”

                  Another goal in writing her book was to create an interest in the actresses on the list of Hughes’s conquests the author of books about George Lucas, Al Pacino, and Meryl Streep the author of books about George Lucas, Al Pacino, and Meryl Streep, many of whom are forgotten.

                  “I hope readers are moved to watch the movies starring some great actresses, fine stars and fascinating women,” she says. “If they seek out Ida Lupino’s directorial efforts, lesser known Hepburn films like Christopher Strong or Morning Glory, or the movies of Jean Peters and Terry Moore, I’ll have done my job.”

    Ifyougo

    What: Karina Longworth will join the Chicago Filmmakers for a special screening of the 1950 film Outrage as well as a talk and book signing.

    When: Monday, January 14 from 7 to 10 p.m.

    Where: Chicago Filmmakers, 5720 N Ridge Ave., Chicago, IL

    Cost: The ticket only option to the screening is pay what you can though a donation is encouraged. For a book and ticket, the cost $37.22 w/service fee. To order, brownpapertickets.com/event/3914967

    FYI: Women & Children First is putting on the event. For more information, 773-769-9299; wcfbooks@gmail.com or womenandchildrenfirst