William Kitchiner (1778–1827) was an English
optician
An optician is an individual who fits glasses or contact lenses by filling a refractive prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They are able to translate and adapt ophthalmic prescriptions, dispense products, and work with acces ...
, amateur
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
ian and cook. A
celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...
, 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. The origin of the
crisp (also known as potato chip) is attributed to Kitchiner, with ''The Cook's Oracle'' including the earliest known recipe.
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. He was also the creator of
Wow-Wow sauce.
The Cook's Oracle
Kitchiner's most well-known book ''The Cook's Oracle'', full title ''Apicius Redivivus, or the Cook's Oracle'', was first published in 1817.
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
Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, amon ...
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.
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".
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. 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.
His love life was chequered: he married, separated, and had an illegitimate son, whom he acknowledged and funded. He surrounded himself with like-minded individuals, setting up a "committee of taste" which revolved around dinners, hosted by himself or held elsewhere.
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.
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.
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)
*''
The Economy of The Eyes Part 2: Telescopes''
*''The Sea Songs of
Charles Dibdin
Charles Dibdin (before 4 March 1745 – 25 July 1814) was an English composer, musician, dramatist, novelist, singer and actor. With over 600 songs to his name, for many of which he wrote both the lyrics and the music and performed them himself ...
'', ed.
References
Further reading
*''Dr. Kitchiner and the Cook's Oracle'' - Elspeth Davies
*''Dr William Kitchiner: the Cook's Oracle: Regency Eccentric'' - Tom Bridge, Colin Cooper English
External links
*
*
*
The 'Cook's Oracle' at Foods of EnglandA large portrait from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and TechnologyInternet Archive info on The Cook's OracleApicius Redivivus. The Cook's Oracle
From th
at the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchiner, William
1775 births
1827 deaths
British inventors
English food writers