(gentle music) - [Jason] When the first enslaved Africans stepped on the shores at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, the first words in a dark chapter of American history were inked.

For centuries, their contributions to the development of the nation were overlooked and marginalized.

But more than 400 years since Jamestown, interpreters like Dontavius Williams now work hard highlighting and celebrating those early contributions.

On a Saturday morning in Pineville, Williams preps a fire and all the ingredients for a cooking demonstration in a log cabin at the James K. Polk state historic site.

- [Dontavius] We are making a peanut sauce.

- [Jason] Wearing period correct attire and using cooking methods of the era.

- [Dontavius] The hearth cooking is the way to go.

- [Jason] It might look like your typical 18th-century cooking demo, but this is something different.

This is the chronicles of Adam and William's interpretation of an enslaved cook.

Williams says, working in the kitchen was one of the most stressful jobs on a plantation.

Those with wealth and power often entertained as a symbol of status.

- One would believe that it was a fortunate job to be in the kitchen.

I would disagree, because in the kitchen you're under constant scrutiny by the mistress of the house.

If you are living as a higher class individual, say for instance like George Washington or the Lee family or anybody in Colonial Virginia, you have a point to prove, right.

And you don't want to serve people just anything.

So the cook's job is always, always under constant scrutiny.

Those who were enslaved in the low country, a lot of the times-- - [Jason] During his program, Williams gives insight into the diets of the enslaved.

- The enslaved were given rations of cornmeal and salt pork, or depending on where they are, maybe dried fish.

And sometimes they were given the opportunity to be able to grow small garden spaces.

- [Jason] But from these basic ingredients, the seeds were planted for new culinary traditions.

- Things like cow peas, black eyed peas, peanuts were all considered not fit for human consumption, but those colonists fed these things to enslaved Africans.

But one day, I believe somebody went over into the slave quarters and they smelled some beautiful aroma, and they tasted what was in the pot and realized that, you know this food, I didn't die from it, right.

And because I didn't die from it, it also is really tasty.

(food frying) Cultural diffusion happens in so many different ways, in ways that we don't even realize that we are picking up other cultures.

To have the magic answer of how the African cuisine made it into the making of America.

I really can't tell you other than my theory that somebody tasted the pot.

The rest is history, if you will.

- [Jason] Speaking of cultural diffusion, according to Williams, one classic and very popular Creole dish is a trifecta of African, Native American and European cuisines.

- Gumbo ain't gumbo unless you got gumbo in it.

If it doesn't have gumbo in it, it's just soup.

Gumbo is an okra soup.

The okra serves as a thickener.

It all goes back to a lot of the ways of Africa.

- [Jason] Now, if you're wondering what he's cooking here, you have to start with a star ingredient, the peanut.

- The conversation today is about the peanut and about those vegetables and things that were indigenous to the African diaspora.

- [Jason] And with the peanut, he's making a sauce that's similar to a peanut soup.

- Always tease with Virginians that they think they invented peanut soup, because peanut soup is one of those big things in Virginia.

But I have to let them know that ground nut stew or ground nut soup is something that is just as much African, if not more as it is Virginian.

(gentle music) - [Jason] By immersing himself in 18th-century conditions, Williams connects with his ancestors, but with his food, he's creating a space for conversation in the 21st century.

- I don't just cook, but I cook and I discuss a very difficult topic.

And that topic is that of slavery and the making of America.

Food is that magic secret that brings people in from all over the place to be able to have those difficult conversations.

And they later find out that it's really not that difficult of a conversation, because we're simply talking about people and who they were and where they were in life at a particular time.

Food is the thing that brings us together, but at the same time, it could divide us greatly.

If we use it right, we can be able to solve a lot of the world's problems over a simple pot of soup.

(gentle music) Ain't no food like America food, you know what I'm saying?

Everything kind of just comes together so neatly.

But you can actually look at table and see the world.

There's so many things that could divide us, but when you look at our tables every single day or look at the cuisine that we have every single day, the food brings us together.

- [Jason] So perhaps take a moment and consider the origin and culture behind the nourishing food you consume on a daily basis.

You may never look at food the same way again.

For Caroline Impact, I'm Jason Terzis reporting.