African American food culture is one of many aspects of African American identity that represents an unbroken line from Africa to present-day America. The latter is something Black food historians such as journalist Donna Battle Pierce, and James Beard Award-winners Michael Twitty and Adrian Miller, are helping to change. In his book, The Cooking Gene, Twitty explores these complexities, while sharing how his personal ancestry intertwines with American and African food traditions. “Within the American South, the difference between soul food and Southern food is so blurred, it’s almost indistinguishable,” he continues. The stigma is so pervasive that when soul food dishes such as Nashville Chicken go mainstream, African American cooks are not credited.