While food may seem simple, what people eat is shaped not only by geography and the environment, but also by culture, religion and the interaction of different groups over time.

On Tuesday, April 9, 2019, join food historian Marcie Cohen Ferris and James Beard Award–winning chef and author Michael Twitty for a conversation about two communities that have been cooking and eating in the South from the colonial period to the present day: Jews and African-Americans. The event, titled “My Food is My Flag: Jewish, African American & Southern Foodways,” will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Simons Center Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Drawing on their influential books, Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South and The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African American Culinary History in the Old South, Ferris and Twitty will reflect on how foodways can illuminate our understanding of the region and its people. This event is part of the College-wide World Affairs Signature Series on Global Foodways.

“My Food is My Flag” is hosted by College of Charleston Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program and Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture.