Hercules: Master of cuisine, slave of Washington
He was one of the first great chefs of Philadelphia - in fact, of the young nation. The chief cook in President George Washington’s home here in 1790 had only one name: Hercules. In the mansion’s open-hearth kitchen, where elaborate banquets were prepared, where spitted meats sizzled and “fricaseys” simmered in cast-iron pans over hickory fires, underlings scurried to execute the orders of Hercules, “the great master-spirit,” according to one account, who seemed to be everywhere at once. To Washington, however, Hercules was what he called that “species of property” - a slave. And though his talents would earn Hercules extraordinary privileges, including an income, fine clothes, and freedom to roam the city, Washington also went to great lengths to maintain the bondage of his prized cook - with deception, slave catchers, and, eventually, an attempt to stash him at Mount Vernon.
