Kitchen inventory from Ochtertyre House, 1763.
This 1763 inventory for Ochtertyre House in Perthshire notes a 'copper fish kettle with a cover and drainer' in the kitchen.
Fish kettles are designed for cooking whole fish such as salmon. The drainer allows the fish to be easily removed from the pan without breaking it.
Kitchen tools — old and new
Kitchen utensils reflect changing cooking methods and recipes, and Scotland developed many utensils which are particular to Scottish cuisine.
Our food history exhibition featured items on display from the Museum of Edinburgh, including:
- Spirtle for stirring porridge
- Silver soup tureen and ladle
- Food storage jars, jelly moulds and rolling pin
- Oyster gauge
- Girdle and bread bin.
Scottish measurements
Many recipes used old Scottish measures such as:
- Chopin: two pints
- Mutchkin: just under a pint
- Peck: two gallons
- Forpet or lippie: half a gallon.
Historic kitchen utensils were on show in 'Lifting the lid', our exhibition on Scotland's food history, which ran at the National Library from 12 June to 8 November 2015.