Reflections on Netflix's "High on the Hog"

This week I watched the Netflix documentary series "High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America." The series is filled with some of the most mouth-watering cuisines you'll find on television and shows how the origins of many American cuisines, like okra, have their origins in West Africa. The series also acknowledges how all of these contributions to American culture took place under some of the most difficult circumstances, involving some of the most oppressive conditions like slavery and Jim Crow.

Additionally, the series also took a look at Texas' influence on our current diet and featured some black-owned Houston area spots I frequent, like Gatlin's BBQ and Lucille's. The series even features the Ocean of Soul of Texas Southern University, which is the university where my wife (who watched the series with me) and I received our law degrees, and where I worked for nearly 13 years. Here are my top reflections of the series.

Before Cotton, Rice was the Major Southern Commodity

While many people think of cotton as the southern crop of choice, the film discusses how it was preceded by rice, which goes as far back as the colonial period. It also noted how some of the earliest wealth in the country was built on the rice industry and how many Africans brought their knowledge of harvesting rice from Africa, and help build this industry as a staple to the American economy of that era. The film also noted how the rice industry collapsed after slavery ended, showing that it was the skill and labor of African Americans that made that industry successful.

The Hemings Family Impact on US Culture

The series also highlighted African Americans that served in high positions and influenced Presidents, like Hercules Posey, who was a slave that served as a chef for George Washington. However, the most interesting story was that of James Hemings. James Hemings was the older brother of Sally Hemings, who famously bore President Thomas Jefferson 6 children while enslaved by him. After traveling with Jefferson to France, while Jefferson was a diplomat, Hemings learned a number of new methods of cooking and is credited for popularizing multiple American staples like french fries and macaroni and cheese. He eventually negotiated his freedom with Jefferson, by training his younger brother Peter to take his place as Jefferson's chef. While many have become familiar with Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings, his less known relationship with her brother James appears to have given many American staples that many of us enjoy to this day.

African American Cowboys Helped Shape the American Diet

The series noted how the word cowboy dated back to the era of slavery, where white masters would label their black cow hands, as "cow boys," noting the use of the word boy was a common label for label black men during that period. The term would eventually be the term used for all of those who handled cows. Movies like Posse have previously noted how as many as one out of every three cowboys were black, but this series noted how they helped play a role in shaping the American diet. In particular, the series noted that the cattle drives of the late 19th century herded around 5 million cattle to the markets of the North and as a result incorporated red meat as a staple in the American diet.

Conclusion

I recommend that you check out the series. Its storytelling of the history and culture of the American diet through food is a brilliant concept and engages a variety of your senses and emotions in the process.