William Kitchiner (11 April 1778 – 26 February 1827) was an English optician, amateur musician and cook.[1] A celebrity chef, he was a household name during the 19th century, and his 1817 cookbook, The Cook's Oracle, was a bestseller in the United Kingdom and the United States.[2] The origin of the crisp (also known as potato chip) is attributed to Kitchiner, with The Cook's Oracle including the earliest known recipe.[3][4]
Quick facts Born, Died ...
Unlike most food writers of the time he cooked the food himself, washed up afterwards, and performed all the household tasks he wrote about. He travelled around with his portable cabinet of taste, a folding cabinet containing his mustards and sauces.[5] He was also the creator of Wow-Wow sauce.
Kitchiner's most well-known book The Cook's Oracle, full title Apicius Redivivus, or the Cook's Oracle, was first published in 1817.[6] It is also known as The Cook's Oracle: Containing receipts for plain cookery on the most economical plan for private families, etc.
The Cook's Oracle includes eleven ketchup recipes, including two each for mushroom, walnut and tomato ketchups, one each for cucumber, oyster, cockle and mussel ketchups, and also a recipe for Wow-Wow sauce.[6]
The book contains what may be one of the earliest references to crisps, in a recipe for "Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings", which instructs the reader to "peel large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping".[3][4]
Optics
kitchiner maintained a collection of over 51 telescopes and published extensively on optical science. His largest contribution was that of the invention of the pancratic eyetube, a magnification device for both celestial and terrestrial observations. He gifted the patent to the Dollond family for manufacturing and detailed the invention in ''The economy of Eyes" (1824).[7]
Life Kitchiner was born in 1778, the son of a prosperous merchant. His father's legacy meant he did not have to work, but instead was able to live on his own means.[8] Although claiming to have been educated at Eton and Glasgow, he attended neither institution, but the link to Glasgow enabled him to claim to be a medical doctor (M.D.), a claim no-one checked.
He was the grandson of James Cecil, 6th Earl of Salisbury. His mother, Mary Cecil-Grave, was the illegitimate daughter of Cecil and Cecil’s mistress, Mary Grave.[9]
His love life was chequered: he married, separated, and had an illegitimate son, William Brown Kitchiner (1804–1861) whom he acknowledged and funded and through whom he is the great-grandfather of Essex Reade (1855–1908).[10] He surrounded himself with like-minded individuals, setting up a "committee of taste" which revolved around dinners attended by Charles Kemble, Samuel Rogers, Theodore Hook and John Soane among others hosted by himself or held elsewhere. The Prince of Wales later, George IV was also a repeat guest, earning Kitchiner the informal nickname. "Royal Cook" [11][12]
His dinners were renowned and made him something of a celebrity within a certain circle. He was very important for that reason. Unlike most food writers of the time he cooked the food himself (though not alone), washed up afterward, and performed all the household tasks he wrote about. In his writings he extolled the virtues of a ''magazine of taste'', a "pyramidical epergne" which could also be made into a portable traveling case, and which contained 28 different ingredients including liqueurs, spice blends, and proprietary sauces.[5]
He died in 1827 of an apparent heart attack, the day before he was due to change his will to remove his son, whom he had decided no longer merited the legacy.[citation needed]
Books
The Invalid’s Oracle
The Housekeeper's Ledger
The Traveller's Oracle
The Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life
Horse and Carriage Keeper's Guide
The Pleasures of Making a Will
The Economy of The Eyes:For the improvement of the sight (also covers Opera Glasses, Pancratic Magnifier for double stars and day telescopes)
An 18th-century portrait, likely of William Fullerton, a British East India Company official and mayor of Calcutta (Kolkata).
William Kitchiner
Detail of a Portrait
Born
1775 England
Died
1827 (aged 51–52)
Nationality
England
Known for
Cook's Oracle, creator of Wow-Wow sauce
I was leafing through a paperback copy of the original 1861 edition of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (Oxford World's Classics) and came across her recipe for Indian Curry-Powder, founded on Dr Kitchener's Recipe. William Kitchiner (1775?-1827) was the author of theApicus Redivivus, The Cook's Oracle, first published in 1817.
I'm quite fond of these historic Anglo-Indian curry powders; the sort of thing we chuck into stews and then have the nerve to call "curry". Here's my version of Dr Kitchener's curry powder, as described by Mrs Beeton. I've slightly adapted it for the modern kitchen and added cardamom and black pepper.
Add the following ingredients to a mixing bowl: two teaspoons of powdered turmeric, two teaspoons ofpowdered cinammon, two teaspoons of powdered ginger, two teaspoons of powdered fenugreek, a dash of cayenne pepper anda good grinding of black pepper. Mix them up so they form a powder.
In a pestle and mortar, grind up the following ingredients until they form a fine powder: two teaspoons of coriander seeds, two teaspoons ofmustard seeds, and a few cardamom pods. (You will have to discard the cardamom's outer shells). I love grinding up spices: all those lovely, aromatic smells. When you reckon the ingredients are ready, mix them in with the other spices.
Keep the finished curry powder in an air-tight container. It should keep reasonably well. Obviously, if you want to make more of the stuff, you will need to increase the quantities. Half the fun of this sort of thing is to play around with the proportions, to suit your own tastes. Secret recipes and all that.
To make the curry, you need to make a blend of curry powder and curry paste first.
Richard Terry’s 19th Century British Curry Powder
This makes 7 tablespoons of curry powder – enough for more than three curries using the recipe below. You can of course use it in any recipe that asks for ‘curry powder’ in its list of ingredients. All the spices required are ground, but don’t buy ground coriander, pepper, cumin, cardamom and cloves if you can avoid it. Instead, roast whole spices over a medium-high heat in a dry frying pan then grind using a coffee grinder after cooling. All you need to do is mix together the following:
