Posey has largely been lost to history, but he influenced the very beginnings of American cuisine.
get all kinds of attention—for the guests in attendance and the food served alike—and the chefs whipping up the mealsIn the late 1700s, George Washington’s chef was the enslaved Black man Hercules Posey, who has largely been lost to history. But a group of historians is trying to bring his story to light, and show further examples of how enslaved people shaped America and its foodways.Loire Valley Wines Were Once the Toast of Europe. This French Businessman Thinks They Should Be Again.
, “not only for descendants of the enslaved at Mount Vernon or because he was George Washington’s cook … He is a representative of a rich community of enslaved cooks whose contributions played a crucial role in shaping the city’s—and America’s—commerce, society and growth.” Posey’s early life is still largely a mystery, but he became Washington’s property around the age of 20. In 1791, at 42 years old, he was brought to Philadelphia, then the country’s capital, to cook for Washington in the executive mansion, thenoted. Over the next six years, he would create elaborate meals for all sorts of occasions, from weekly congressional dinners to socials held by Martha Washington to the president’s birthday dinners.
In 1797, Posey escaped from Mount Vernon and began his life as a free man. He first went to Philadelphia, before settling in Manhattan, where he worked as a laborer and a cook until his death in 1812. While his influence on American cuisine then went unspoken of for centuries, Posey is no longer just a footnote in U.S. history.Tori Latham is a digital staff writer at Robb Report.
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