High on the Hog

I have just finished yet another interesting book as part of the usual happily self-imposed summer reading program while on break from Purdue.  The book is entitled, "High on the Hog, A Culinary Journey from America to America" by Jessica Harris.  The book is a fascinating account of the slavery period in the United States intertwined with the culinary heritage of slaves that influenced the American diet.  I learned a great deal about the slave trade that I either did not remember from K-12 or was never taught in class.  One of the most interesting facts was that only a small percentage of slaves garnered from Africa came to America, the vast majority went to Central and South America.  I thought all slaves traded from Africa by traders were brought to America.  I also learned that it was possible for slaves to become free and live a somewhat normal life -- mostly in the northern states -- and become quite successful business people in the hospitality and services business during and after slavery was abolished.  One example is the Harlem street vendors who sold pigs' feet, fried chicken, hot corn and other vegetables out of horse drawn carts using syncopated rythms and humorous rhymes (eary form of rap?).  In many ways, these entrepreneurs were direct descendents of the vegetable hawkers of Charleston and New Orleans and even the black street-food sellers who had dotted the downtown New York streets in the colonial period and early years of the nineteenth century.

I also learned that ochra, watermelon and black-eyed peas are  native to Africa and brought here on slave ships and the reason that those plants figure into the culinary heritage and diet of Black Americans.  There is also a nice selection of recipes in the back including those to prepare pigs feet, watermelon-rind pickles, possum with sweet potatoes, and bean pie.  There are also many references to those who became successful restaurateurs over the  years and cookbooks that would be a nice addition to one's culinary school library.

All in all it was a very good book and I learned alot and confident you will enjoy it, too.  The author did extensive research to put this book together to tell an accurate and interesting story of the role that Black Americans played to integrate their cultural traditions into the one we take for granted today.