Vital Names: James Hemings, America's First French-Trained Chef, Introduced Americans To Its Favorite Foods

Créme brûlée. Ice cream. Macaroni and cheese. Meringues.

To whom do Americans attribute these beloved foods? For most of us, the answer is “I don’t know.” For some of us, the answer is either wrong or only partially informed.

That’s because food history — like all history — is recorded and passed down by those in power.

Here, the foods in question were introduced to Americans by James Hemings. As an enslaved chef to Thomas Jefferson, Hemings was not a person in power. Thus, he was erased from the annals of American cuisine. So, too, were his contributions.

Fortunately, that has changed in recent years.

James Hemings at Monticello

James Hemings was born into slavery in Virginia in 1765. His mother was Elizabeth Hemings, an enslaved woman. His father was John Wayles, a slave trader.

At nine years old, Hemings arrived at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello as part of the Wayles’ estate, one of dozens of enslaved people who came into Jefferson’s possession through his wife’s inheritance.

(A bit of background: John Wayles’ daughter Martha – by his wife Martha Eppes – married Jefferson. Hemings was, thus, a half-sibling to Jefferson’s wife. Hemings’ sister Sally, who was also enslaved, later bore children by Thomas Jefferson.)

The First American to Train as a Chef in France

In 1784, Jefferson was named Minister Plenipotentiary (aka Commerce Minister) and relocated to France. Jefferson took 19-year-old Hemings with him.

While in France, Hemings studied French cooking and apprenticed to some of the finest pastry and culinary chefs in Paris. Among these was the caterer and restaurateur Monsieur Combeaux and the lead chef in the household of the Prince of Condé. Hemings also paid for French language lessons with a private tutor.

Eventually, Hemings earned the role of chef de cuisine (head chef) in Jefferson's kitchen at his home on the Champs-Élysées. There, he managed a team of white cooks and supporting staff across various roles in the kitchen, and he served his creations to European artists, statesmen and aristocrats hosted by Jefferson. Hemings was paid a wage — a rarity among enslaved people — but it was far less than that paid to white chefs in equivalent roles.

Returning to Colonial America

In 1789, Hemings returned with Jefferson to colonial America. As the first American to study French cuisinein France, he brought many new recipes and techniques home with him. These include créme brulee, meringues, French fries and macaroni and cheese, among others.

Four years later, Jefferson promised to free Hemings if he trained a replacement chef. Hemings  then spent three years teaching his brother Paul the art of French cooking.

In 1796, Hemings was granted legal manumission. It was his first ever taste of freedom. He was 30 years old.

Sadly, Hemings died just six years later. Most believe his death was a suicide induced by alcohol, but the circumstances surrounding this conjecture leave many questions unanswered. Was Hemings clinically depressed (in a time when this term did not exist)? Did the struggles of his post-enslavement life — wherein he battled the paradox of freedom without equality daily — prove too heavy to bear?

Though one can only speculate as to Hemings’ state of mind both throughout and at the end of his life, what can be said with certainty is that he was a man of immense talent, intelligence and grit; a man whose reality was unfair and oppressive, but whose imagination was limitless.

James Hemings was America’s first French-trained chef, and for this he is one of American food history’s most vital names. 

Revisit parts one (Edna Lewis) and parts two (Robert W. Lee) in the Vital Names series.