Bare Cheek: The history of the Kitkat

Jason Kitkat (not to be confused with Council leader Jason Kitcat) researches the history of the chocolate-covered wafer biscuit from which he gets his famous name. So, “have a break” and take a look at a few things about the Kitkat you might not know…

1 The Kitkat was invented in 1877 by Ezekiel Kitkat, my great-great grandfather, a humble shopkeeper in York.

2 It was invented by accident when, during the blazing hot summer of ’77, the chocolate melted off a lot of Rolos onto a consignment of ice cream wafers on the shelf below. Intrigued, Ezekiel tasted the result with a cup of tea, and realised that he had stumbled upon the most popular chocolate-covered snack bar of all time!

3 Ezekiel attempted to market his invention himself, but realised he did not have the necessary resources, and so sold his recipe to noted local confectioners, Rowntree’s for the princely sum of one hundred guineas.

4 Rowntree’s originally wanted to market the snack as “Tasty Chocolate Crisp”, but Ezekiel was a proud man and insisted his own surname be used.

5 There were originally five fingers in a Kitkat, but sugar shortages during World War I meant a reduction to four. The new four- finger bar proved so popular that it was decided to stick with it.

6 In the 1930s, rationing meant that the crispy wafer insides of the Kitkat were replaced with snoek. Amazingly, sales went up!

7 As the only surviving male heir of the Kitkat family, I receive a solid gold Kitkat every year from the manufacturers. I use the money to buy – you guessed it, more Kitkats!

Fringe festival

It’s back! The Fringe Festival with top acts and low prices returns this year with events all over the city from 3 May –3 June. But if you’re not persuaded yet, here are five reasons why you should take a look at our new website www.brighton5poundfringe.com to see what’s on:

1) Each ticket cost no more than £5, while some events are free.
2) You can buy tickets in advance through our website, with no booking fee.
3) Our shows take place in the evening and finish at a reasonable time. So you can eat your tea beforehand and have a drink afterwards. And a lot of them have intervals, so you can have a drink then as well.
4) You won’t get herded about like cattle by security guards and stewards while they hurry to get the next show on.
5) We believe everyone deserves special treatment, so there are no exclusive deals or queue jumping.