High on the HogHigh on the Hog
Acclaimed cookbook author Jessica B. Harris has spent much of her life researching the food and foodways of the African Diaspora. High on the Hog is the culmination of years of her work, and the result is a most engaging history of African American cuisine. Harris takes the reader on a harrowing journey from Africa across the Atlantic to America, tracking the trials that the people and the food have undergone along the way. From chitlins and ham hocks to fried chicken and vegan soul, Harris celebrates the delicious and restorative foods of the African American experience and details how each came to form such an important part of African American culture, history, and identity. Although the story of African cuisine in America begins with slavery, High on the Hog ultimately chronicles a thrilling history of triumph and survival. The work of a masterful storyteller and an acclaimed scholar, Jessica B. Harris's High on the Hog fills an important gap in our culinary history.
Praise for Jessica B. Harris: "Jessica Harris masters the ability to both educate and inspire the reader in a fascinating new way." -Marcus Samuelsson, chef owner of Restaurant Aquavit
Cookbook author and culinary historian Jessica B. Harris has long been recognized as an expert on the food of Africa and the African Diaspora. In High on the Hog, she brings a lifetime of knowledge and her masterful storytelling to a narrative history of the foods and foodways that began in Africa, traversed the Atlantic slave routes, and eventually flowered across the American continent.
From ham hocks and chitlins to fried chicken and vegan soul, Harris celebrates the delicious and beloved foods of the African American experience, detailing how each became a quintessential part of the country's culture and identity. She tracks down the people who shaped this history, from George Washington's charismatic cook to hardworking house slaves, from cowboy camp cooks and Pullman waiters to contemporary chefs in today's best restaurants.
While many of these people and their traditions have withstood the violent uprooting of the slave trade and long centuries of repression, Harris's take on the African American culinary journey is ultimately one of endurance and triumphùa celebration of the hard-won place of Africans at the American table.
Cookbook author Jessica B. Harris has spent much of her life researching the food and foodways of the African Diaspora. High on the Hog is the culmination of years of her work, and the result is an engaging history of African American cuisine. Harris takes the reader on a harrowing journey from Africa across the Atlantic to America, tracking the trials that the people and the food have undergone along the way. From chitlins and ham hocks to fried chicken and vegan soul, Harris celebrates the delicious and restorative foods of the African American experience and details how each came to form such an important part of African American culture, history, and identity. Although the story of African cuisine in America begins with slavery, High on the Hog ultimately chronicles a history of triumph and survival.--From publisher description.
The author of The Africa Cookbook presents a history of the African Diaspora on two continents, tracing the evolution of culturally representative foods ranging from chitlins and ham hocks to fried chicken and vegan soul.
Presents a history of the African Diaspora on two continents, tracing the evolution of culturally representative foods ranging from chitlins and ham hocks to fried chicken and vegan soul.
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- New York : Bloomsbury, 2011.
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