What Are the “High on the Hog” Producers Cooking for Juneteenth?
Celebrate the new federal holiday with a delicious buffet in remembrance of those who didn’t make it to freedom.
Courtesy of Adam Amengual
"High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America." (L-R) Pictured: Executive Producers Karis Jagger and Fabienne Toback. c. Courtesy of Baby Grande PR
The fourth episode of High on the Hog, the new four-part Netflix documentary series examining the influence of African-American cooking on American cuisine, begins with a moving bit of audio. Entitled “Freedom,” the episode hones in on Juneteenth in Texas and enters with a slow zoom shot of an old American home accompanied by a recording from 1941 of Laura Smalley, a former slave in Hempstead, Texas. She recalls the master of the house calling everyone inside and on the 19th of June, everyone was turned free. With a southern drawl in her voice she says “That’s why, you know, we celebrate that day. Colored folks celebrate that day.” Now, in 2021, it’s not just people of color in the United States celebrating their freedom from over 200 years of legal slavery, but the Senate has just passed a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Juneteenth is celebrated across the United States with festivals, parades, and most importantly a whole lot of eating—because what celebration isn’t centered around a good buffet-style spread? I had the pleasure of chatting with the executive producers of the docu-series, Fabienne Toback and Karis Jagger, to pick their brains on all things food, Juneteenth, and the importance of the series they’ve been working to crank out since 2016.
In beginning to discuss their Juneteenth plans this year, Karis tells me, “I will definitely be enjoying a hibiscus cocktail.” Fabienne agrees that she too will be enjoying a hibiscus cooler and chimes in to add, “We have a food blog called Hey Sistah. Once we optioned the book we realized that we had a lot of hurry up and wait, as is common in the true nature of being in Hollywood. Karis in all of her genius suggested we start a food blog so we could do research in this interim period. So we started Hey Sistah by bringing together our love of food and all of our research into the burgeoning black food scene which extends far beyond southern food. Black cuisine is not monolithic in that regard.”
Courtesy of Netflix
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After five years of working on the show, and weekly updates to their blog, the duo plan to enjoy Juneteenth this year with a spread of dishes and hibiscus coolers in hand. Commonly, red dishes, drinks, and strawberries are seen in a Juneteenth spread, “The red foods are representative of the blood of our ancestors who were not able to celebrate their independence. A nice red velvet cake, a hibiscus cooler, and some hot links or ribs maybe, that’s what I’ll be eating.” Karis tells me.
Fabienne expands on her personal path to understanding Juneteenth by telling me, “I’m from New York City, my grandmother was Black and I never heard Juneteenth mentioned in our family at all. But I see and I understand and really embrace what it is to the African American community here in the United States, it’s really special to have this opportunity to celebrate our resilience and that’s what we looked to exemplify with the show.” Then Karis jumped in to add, “We knew about Juneteenth before we read Jessica’s book but that was when we really started to delve into it, that’s when we made the historic dive. The pictures we found from the old parades really blew us away, I think it was really a Texan thing. I think a lot of the big celebrations were going on there, in the 30’s they had these beautiful cars decorated with flowers and more recently people going out and dancing to music. We really wanted to highlight Galveston where they have a huge celebration but the timing of filming didn’t line up, we were, however, able to get a few readings to share though.”
As a Black woman, I, like Fabienne, didn’t grow up celebrating Juneteenth even though my family moved from Arkansas to San Francisco not too long after freedom was granted. I can recall two years ago, I was told at work that we would be given the day off. I remember thinking, “Awesome, a three day weekend!” without much understanding of what the day was about.
After talks with my grandma and dad, a whole lot of Googling, and a deep dive into many articles that discuss how long it took for slaves to find out they were actually free from state to state, as well as various theories as to why it took so long, I realized it was more than just a day off, but a day of remembrance and respect for my ancestors. That’s why this year I’ll be celebrating with a feast of sorts inspired by the dishes mentioned by Fabienne and Karis, and I invite you to try a few recipes in honor of the holiday as well! They’ve shared a couple of recipes with us from their blog Hey Sistah that are indicative of some traditional dishes you might find at a Juneteenth celebration. Find their recipes for a rum hibiscus cooler and pickled shrimp below; as well as a few Sunset recipes to add to your buffet assortment. Happy Juneteenth to those who came before us and those who will come after us—we celebrate for them!
Recipes to Celebrate Juneteenth With
Juneteenth Rum & Hibiscus Ginger Cooler
I present to you the Rum & Hibiscus Ginger Cooler! Red foods and drinks are served to commemorate those who didn’t make it to freedom and this cooler is the perfect sip for the summer weekend and to pay respects.
Pickled Shrimp
The red in this dish comes from the pickled onions, and they add a delicious flavor to the brined shrimp. Nothing could be easier to make. Like most recipes, tweak this one to your taste. Pickled shrimp are great on a cracker with a splash of your favorite hot sauce. Or add some to a salad. If you see some beautiful plump shrimp at the market—grab them!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream
Red velvet cake is a traditional sweet served in the south, and they’re a perfect dessert to serve at the end of a meal. These electric magenta cupcakes get their color not from the usual food coloring but from puréed roasted beets, which also add a subtle flavor. Don’t use canned or packaged steamed beets or the cupcakes’ color will be drab.
Matt Horn’s Oven Barbecue Ribs
Matt Horn is making waves in the barbecue industry as the first Black person to publish a cookbook on barbecue, which makes his ribs a perfect way to ring in Juneteenth. “This is a really great recipe that you can prepare in the comfort of your home. Once the meat has been baked, I like to add a sauce to the ribs; this can be either homemade or your favorite store-bought BBQ sauce. For really tender ribs, you can remove the membrane from behind the rack of ribs,” says pitmaster Matt Horn, of Horn Barbecue.
Jamaican Rice and Peas
In Jamaica, where dried beans are called peas, a pot of them cooked with rice, coconut milk, and allspice is a given at most meals and makes the perfect side for any protein. This recipe from Shani Jones-Taye makes a generous amount; any leftovers reheat well in the microwave. Jones-Taye is co-owner of Peaches Patties, a Jamaican food kiosk in San Francisco.
Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake with Whiskey Caramel Sauce
If you’re not a fan of red velvet or beets, you can still enjoy some sweets with this rich chocolate bundt cake. Moist, dense, and foolproof, this cake by Naomi Robinson, the blogger behind Bakers Royale, includes a mix of cocoa and chocolate chips for fudgy flavor. You can vary the intensity by adjusting the number of chocolate chips, but don’t pass up the silky caramel sauce.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Strawberries are one of the staples of a Juneteenth celebration, served alongside savory dishes and in sweets as a remembrance of those who didn’t make it to freedom. This pie makes for a fruit-filled delight with a sweet mixture of strawberries and rhubarb wrapped in a mouth-watering crust.
