Jefferson's chef

Thomas Jefferson may or may not have made his wife's half sister his mistress even though she was underage slave.

But that is not the only one in the Hemming family who he treated badly.

When Jefferson went to France, he not only took young Sally but also her brother, a cook. Both of them could have claimed freedom but they went back with Jefferson, maybe because he promised they would eventually be freed with their entire family.

Atlas Obscura has the story of James Hemming, Jefferson's cook.

 It’s hard to overstate how unusual Hemings was, in terms of both his gifts and his influence, says Michael Twitty, a food historian and the author of The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South....

He was a fastidious note-taker, with a strong sense of what Twitty describes as “proprietary knowledge” over his own recipes. Even in France, he distinguished himself with his knowledge of French cuisine, helping Jefferson develop a local reputation as a good host who “lives well and keeps a good Table and excellent wines,” as one guest put it. By the time he was 21, Hemings was running the kitchen at the Hôtel de Langeac, Jefferson’s official residence on the Champs-Élysées. His menus suggest confidence and imagination, running the gamut from capon stuffed with Virginia ham and chestnut purée that was served with calvados sauce to boeuf à la mode.

more at the link.

And this video discusses the Hemmings family :