Her AncestryDNA test had a powerful impact on her, so she asked others to take one, too.

"I never really understood what it meant to be Peruvian as a child," says Connie Chavez.

Chavez is a self-taught videographer who works at Latina magazine in New York. Growing up in New York, she didn't really have an opportunity to be around other Peruvian people. Her friends dismissed her background, assuming it was the same as any other Latino culture.

"Nobody understood what Peru was," she says. "It made me really feel bad."

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How a pet project about cooking turned into a moving tribute to grandmothers everywhere.

What we can learn from our ancestors about ourselves is invaluable.

Jonas Pariente's grandmother, Mémé, passed away shortly before his 30th birthday.

Mémé was born in Poland in 1916. His other grandmother, Nano, was born in Egypt in 1933.

When Jonas was 23, he began filming both of his grandmothers in the kitchen as a way to learn more about his roots and identity through the signature dishes they cooked and the stories they shared.

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7 mouthwatering dishes that show the African origins of Southern soul food.

It's time for some Southern discomfort.

Michael Twitty is a southerner, a Jew, a cook, a gay black man, a TED fellow, a historian, and an all around cool dude.

I first discovered him in a Washington Post article about his work uncovering and illuminating the African-American origins of southern cooking.

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