‘It’s how we know who we are’: behind a docuseries on African American food

In Netflix's High on the Hog, an often misunderstood or untold history of Black food is investigated with the help of culinary historian Jessica B Harris

Through food, we can find out that there is more that connects us than that separates us. What we eat and what we discover brings us together. It's a communal table. It's how we know who we are, and it's how we know we're connected," says culinary historian Jessica B Harris. She sits beside food expert Stephen Satterfield and across from Benin-based food blogger Karelle Vignon Vullierme. On the shaded patio, the trio eat the feast visual artist Romuald Hazoume has prepared: bowls of ata tchichi, mangi mangi, ayiman, and kan kan, ancient dishes eaten by the people of Benin before the advent of the transatlantic slave trade. As they eat, the trio comment on the taste and the familiarity of these foods they have never experienced before.

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