Kitchen Pepper
Last fall I decided to make some kitchen pepper. What is that, I hear you say? Kitchen pepper is a basic seasoning mix that seems to have been fairly popular in the nineteenth century, based on its inclusion in historic cookbooks. I encountered the concept of Kitchen Pepper a number of years ago when I read my first reproduction cookbook, The Kentucky Housewife (1839). Unlike its designation as a "pepper," the actual product is a mix. I tucked it away in the back of my mind, where it stayed as I started learning how to cook historic recipes. In the meantime, I made walnut catsup, lemon catsup, and mushroom catsup. The idea of other seasonings intrigued me. Plus, I wanted an interesting demonstration for a reenactment. So, one lovely October weekend, I, with the help of friends, made kitchen pepper. The Kentucky Housewife Making the Kitchen Pepper I started with whole, dried ingredients, including blades of mace, which I found at an Indian grocery. I ch