Black food is American food. Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield traces the delicious, moving throughlines from Africa to Texas in this docuseries.
If High on the Hog was a museum, my wife and I walked into the room and were overwhelmed with the beauty. Cooking is art and the idea of elevated cuisine is often relegated to White America. Soul food is seen as the legacy of slavery and by default is thought of as simply comfort food served in storefronts by folks who think catfish and black eyed peas is the historical reference point of Black dining.
We walked into High on the Hog without any expectations. We put the show on to pass the time while I was cooking. I thought it would be the typical cooking show: host, crack corny jokes, and eat. I had no idea that the show was based on a best selling book and that the narrative of the text would translate into a historical class on food and the Black diaspora. I wasn’t ready.
The host, chef Stephen Satterfield reminded me of the main character in the film “Uncorked” another Netflix show. In that film I was introduced to what a sommelier was through the eyes of sensitive, dedicated young man. The fact that film was set in Memphis was a bonus, but the main character educated us and although it was fiction, it showed a Black man as more than Boones Farm and Crown Royal.
Stephen reminded me of that character. In many cooking shows the host can overshadow the information. Stephen allowed the story to be told. He immersed himself into the sharing of knowledge and carried us with him on a journey which started on the Ivory Coast in the first episode and taught me of the importance of certain dishes born prior to the arrival of slaves to the West Indies and U.S. His longing to understand made us want to grab our passports and begin our own journey to stand on the shores of Goree Island. My wife and I both cried as Stephen stood at the Door of No Return.
Our tears wouldn’t stopped there. Throughout each episode there were moments that pulled at the heart. In Our Founding Chefs, which focused on Thomas Jefferson and George Washington’s slave chefs, it was the story of a family being displaced today, not in slavery, that found us angry and crying again. Each episode builds on the culture and history of food in the U.S. and details how important African-Americans were to the economy and culture of the U.S. The final episode taught us more about Juneteenth than we ever learned in any of our educational pursuits. High on the Hog is masterful television and should be required viewing in educational settings and for everyone.
