American Food History: High on the Hog

 

AMERICAN FOOD HISTORY

Definitive American food history narratives are presented in the book by Jessica B. Harris as well as in the video series by Stephen Satterfield based on the book.

The titles of both are High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America. This blog post focuses on this phenomenon.

JESSICA B. HARRIS American culinary historian, professor, cookbook author and journalist
food-history
Queens-Born Jessica B. Harris Receives James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEPHEN SATTERFIELD African-American food writer, producer, and media entrepreneur.
american-food
Stephen Satterfield is Changing the Way We Tell Stories About Food

THE VIDEO: High on the Hog

Video of American Food History, High on the Hog

FOOD HISTORY FAVORITES
Actually, I have several favorite anecdotes from the ‘High on the Hog’ story. The yam versus sweet potatoes story is one of them. In fact, yams and sweet potatoes are not the same.

yams
Yams are not the same as sweet potato but confusion about them exists
sweet potato
Sweet potatoes are often confused with yams but they are not the same

In fact, yams do not even grow in this country. They grow in Africa. On the other hand, the US is home to sweet potatoes. So if you see something in the US named yams, it is not from the US.

The food history narrative reflects the music narrative in Rumble, the history of 20th Century American Music. Both bring fascinating insight into the cultures of American music and food history.

TRACING MORE AMERICAN CULTURAL HISTORY

Tracing the slave trade to America reflects additional cultural history. It is actually the transformation of African American food to American food.

This adds to the rich musical history of America. It is detailed in the blog post, RUMBLE in a previous post.

 

Video of American Music History, Rumble

Please watch both of these videos to get an educational and entertaining understanding of these cultural histories. I highly recommend them.

SOURCES & RESOURCES

Queens born Jessica B. Harris Receives James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award
The History Makers: Jessica B. Harris
Oldways: Jessica B. Harris, PhD.
Stephen Satterfield is Changing the Way We Tell Stories About Food
Whetstone Magazine on Facebook
Whetstone Magazine Website
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