18th Century Kitchen Pepper
This recipe first appears in “The Lady’s Assistant” by Charlotte Mason circa 1787, I came across the idea through Historybounding and the Reenactment circle on YouTube. And as someone who’s favorite thing to do in kitchens is to make my own spice blends and combine flavors I was immediately interested.
Kitchen pepper in all it’s various forms are the first known premade spice blends. Every household had their own version, as did many general stores. The popularity of kitchen pepper is attributed to limited space during traveling on the frontier, instead of having to carry several different spice you just need on little vial of “pepper”.
I gotta say, I absolutely love this. I was super skeptical considering the spices in there, I expected to end up with some awful pumpkin spice pork chop. But the aromatics pair perfectly with white meats. I’ve put it on pork, I’ve used it as a dry rub for smoked game hen, everything comes out fire.
Kitchen Pepper Recipe
- 1oz Ginger
- 1/2oz Black Pepper
- 1/2oz Cinnamon
- 1/2oz Cloves
- 1/2oz Nutmeg
- 6oz Salt
All portions are by weight for dried, ground spices.