Stephen Satterfield, journalist and host of food series High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America, and writer-historian Jessica B. Harris stand at the edge of a beach at sunrise, the sky a vibrant pink in the distance. “This water is so grounding,” Satterfield says, turning to Harris. “It’s so much more grounding when we look out toward the East, toward Africa,” Harris responds, “because this water was the birth canal of African Americans. This water sustained us. This water brought us here. This water kept us alive.”

Such is Harris and Satterfield’s approach to food, community, and more in High on the Hog: By excavating the history of certain dishes and ingredients — from verdant green okra at a market on the coast of Benin to mouthwatering mac and cheese in Charlottesville, Virginia and delectable barbeque in Austin, Texas — the duo work to untangle the gastronomic and cultural interplay between two continents and two culinary traditions. Over shared tables and cooked-to-perfection meals, Harris and Satterfield revisit the country’s history through the lens of Black food with the help of Black chefs, historians, farmers, entrepreneurs, and regular people. 

Based on Harris’s 2011 book, High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, the series is executive-produced by Karis Jagger and Fabienne Toback and directed by Roger Ross Williams, and was first released in 2021. In a genre that has been ruthlessly and intentionally whitewashed, High on the Hog returns for a second season to reexamine the blindspots and prejudices of the food travelogue.