High on the Hog: Black Cooks and the Making of American Cuisine

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio

Milk Street Radio

Arts, Food

4.2 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We chat with Dr. Jessica B. Harris about her seminal book "High on the Hog,'' which offers a diverse and complex history of African American cuisine—from the escape of George Washington’s enslaved master chef to the birth of the catering industry. Plus, we investigate Korean television’s obsession with Subway sandwiches, learn about the origins of egg-based idioms from Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette, and share the secret to making Turkish kebabs on your backyard grill.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Milk Street listeners. As fall approaches, I've asked Stella Parks to help me answer your baking questions.
0:06.6	So from spice cakes to Halloween candies and much more, we're opening the phone lines to tackle your autumn baking projects.
0:13.9	Please email us at questions at milkstreetradio.com.
0:17.3	One more time, send questions to milkstreetradio.com and we'll be in touch.
0:24.9	Hi, this is Christopher Kimball. Thanks for downloading this week's podcast. You can go to our website
0:30.5	177Milkstreet.com to stream our television show, get our recipes, or take our free online
0:37.3	cooking classes. Enjoy the show.
0:44.6	This is Mill Street Radio from PRX. I'm your host, Christopher Kimball. In 2011, Dr. Jessica
0:51.8	Harris published a book called High on the Hawk, which tells the story of how African Americans played a key role in the growth of American cuisine, from cooking for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to working as trail cooks as the cowboy culture moved west.
1:06.7	She joins us today to talk about her book, which has also been turned into a four-part Netflix series.
1:13.1	I think people are watching with open minds, and that is extraordinarily gratifying,
1:22.7	because it means that people are willing to hear that Hemmings is the person who probably brought macaroni and
1:30.8	cheese to this country and French fries and ice cream. Jefferson was the person who might
1:38.0	have enjoyed eating them, but he wasn't preparing them. Also coming up, we learn how to make Istanbul's famous minced meat kebabs.
1:47.8	And Grant Barrett and Martha Barnett tell us what it really means to egg someone on.
1:52.2	But first, it's my conversation with journalists, Seth Berkman, about why subway sandwiches have risen to fame on Korean television.
2:00.3	Seth, welcome to Milk Street.
2:01.6	Hi, Chris. Thanks for having me.
2:03.6	What is a K-drama?
2:05.6	So K-drama is short for Korean drama, which basically encapsulates any sort of hour-long program on Korean television.
2:14.6	There are ones about athletes, ones about musicians. They're businessmen.
2:19.7	There are young teenagers in high school. A lot of shows are based around revenge.
	...

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