Umi's Reviews > The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South

Listened to this as an audiobook, and at the risk of sounding like a first grader, it was a great audiobook because Twitty was a compelling narrator and mainly because it was long. Like other reviewers have pointed out, it’s a little disjointed at times, and the beginning and end veer into unnecessarily florid NPR-style territory. Some people probably loved that but I was like ?? Is this the guy who wrote the article about going to Ghana in Bon Appetit in 2018 ?? I remember that article not taking itself as overdone-sentimentally ? There was a joke about pizza rat ? Where did that guy go ? Anyway he was that guy and he’s hiding later in the book. The passages where Twitty is visiting other chefs or charting alimentary and cultural developments are super interesting, and he weaves in his family oral histories and uncovered facts in an effective manner, but at times it did feel like ? Is this branded content for DNA testing ? I’m being a little glib, as the minute details of his genetic testing experiences will likely be really useful to some people; it’s more a case of my slight missing the point when choosing an audiobook striking again - the book is called The Cooking Gene, not, like, Cool Stories about My Family Interwoven with the Story of Food in America.

One star docked because he thinks people in Liverpool are nicer than Londoners and he isn’t effusive enough about the regrettably brief time he spends in Brixton. I also dock one star from myself for having to end every review with a punchline.