High on the Hog

Yes, 'High on the Hog' was adapted into a four-part Netflix documentary series of the same name in 2021, hosted by chef and writer Stephen Satterfield. The series was directed by Roger Ross Williams and received a Peabody Award.

Harris traces African American foodways from their roots in West Africa, through the Middle Passage and slavery in the American South, into the modern era. She documents how enslaved African cooks shaped American cuisine through ingredients like okra, black-eyed peas, and rice cultivation techniques.

Jessica B. Harris is a culinary historian and professor emerita at Queens College, City University of New York, where she taught for over five decades. She has written multiple books on African diaspora food culture and was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America.

Yes, the book interweaves historical narrative with recipes for dishes such as Guinea hen with okra and hoe cakes. The recipes are drawn from historical sources and personal interviews Harris conducted across the American South and in West Africa.