High on the Hog is back!
The Netflix series from Stephen Satterfield, which explores generational conversations among Black people through food, has returned for a second season. In the first episode of Season 2, the series showcases the defining influence of African ingredients on New Orleans’ signature dishes and explores how the Great Migration inspired the distinctive culinary style of Chicago in the north.
When it comes to the new season, there are some differences from the first season. “These are histories that cannot be understood by even reading a textbook, and I feel that presence and historical significance being with you all here today,” Satterfield said in The New York Times.
“Much of the first season was about folks who have gone on to become ancestors, folks who didn’t necessarily speak for themselves but spoke through their work or descendants,” said Dr. Jessica B. Harris, who appears in three of this season’s four episodes and whose book of the same name inspired the show. “This season, the folks who made the dish or made that change are on camera, and that’s a very big difference.”
The season traces the legacy of Black cooking through Reconstruction and along the routes of the Great Migration. It also presents more firsthand accounts of African Americans who have shaped cooking and dining in America. “You don’t belong to just yourself,” Satterfield added. “We’re all ancestors already whether we acknowledge it or embrace it.”
Cover Photo: Stephen Satterfield samples a watermelon salad in Harlem/Photo: Netflix