High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America | Netflix

I watched all episodes. It was beautiful.

Being of African-Creole descent and watching the horrors of the Black experience thru the lens of the nightly news, this series was a vacation for my soul, a mini jubilee.

We should not ignore the struggles that still exist. But we don’t celebrate the African-American experience enough - the resilience, accomplishments, ingenuity, culture, art and yes food - attributes that have contributed to every aspect of American life, and things rarely learned in a classroom.

I love history and found the stories interesting, especially stories like the piece about Washington & Thomas Jefferson’s slave chefs, Hercules and James Hemings (Jefferson’s French trained chef and uncle to at least 5 of his children), the story of the oyster trade, etc.

I did notice host, Stephen Satterfield’s, “oh, wow, delicious”. But mostly saw it as politeness. His sweet, quiet, almost selfless demeanor was a refreshing departure from most food show hosts. He was an observer who let his guests share their experiences.

About the food - as the series progressed the dishes from African roots to the modern refinement of today’s young African-American chefs was incredibly satisfying and drool-worthy to me.

Happy Eating & Learning!

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