Episode Details

In 1776, your plate revealed your place in society: Founding Fathers dined on imported French and English delicacies while enslaved cooks and working-class folks survived on cornmeal, sweet potatoes, and foraged scraps—often preparing the very meals their masters enjoyed. Behind the scenes, enslaved chefs like James Hemings, trained in France, toiled in steamy kitchens to serve up luxury while eating barely enough themselves. Taverns offered a glimpse of middle-class life, serving up fruits and basics—sometimes even the “whole foods” we prize today. It’s a stark, deliciously unsettling look at how America’s food history was built on inequality, labor, and layered privilege.

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