Charles Elmé Francatelli by Auguste Hervieu

Charles Elmé Francatelli (180510 August 1876) was an

Italian British Italians in the United Kingdom, also known as British Italians or colloquially Britalians, are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom of Italian heritage. The phrase may refer to someone born in the United Kingdom of Italian descent, some ...

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, known for his cookery books popular in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, such as ''

The Modern Cook ''The Modern Cook'' was the first cookery book by the Anglo-Italian cook Charles Elmé Francatelli (1805–1876). It was first published in 1846. It was popular for half a century in the Victorian era, running through 29 London editions by 1 ...

''.

Biography

Francatelli was born in London, of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent, in 1805. He was educated in France, where he studied the art of cookery under

Marie-Antoine Carême Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême (; 8 June 178412 January 1833) was a French chef and an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as ''grande cuisine'', the "high art" of French cooking: a grandiose style of cookery ...

. Returning to England, he was employed successively by various noblemen, subsequently becoming chief chef of the St James's Club, popularly known as Crockford's club. He left Crockford's to become chief cook to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

from 9 March 1840 to 31 March 1842, and then returned to Crockford's. He was managing steward of the Coventry House Club from the day it opened on 1 June 1846 until it closed on 25 March 1854, and at the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

from 1854 to 1861. He was Manager of the St James's Hotel, at the corner of

Berkeley Street Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, ...

and

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

, from 1863 to 1870. He worked as chef de cuisine to the Prince and Princess of Wales at the nearby

Marlborough House Marlborough House, a Grade I listed mansion in St James's, City of Westminster, London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Nations and the seat of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It was built in 1711 for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marl ...

from early 1863 until at least late September 1866. From 1870 to 76 he was manager of the

Freemasons' Tavern The Freemasons' Tavern was established in 1775 at 61-65 Great Queen Street in the West End of London. It served as a meeting place for a variety of notable organisations from the 18th century until it was demolished in 1909 to make way for the ...

. He died at Eastbourne.

Works

Francatelli was the author of ''

'' (1846), ''A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes'' (1852), ''The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant'' (1861), and of ''The Royal English and Foreign Confectioner'' (1862). ''A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes'' was reprinted in 1993, complete with the original advertisements and introduction.

Reception

Francatelli's Modern Cook - Iced Pudding, a la Chesterfield

Clarissa Dickson Wright Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Dickson Wright (24 June 1947 – 15 March 2014) was an English celebrity cook, television personality, writer, businesswoman, and former barrister. She was bes ...

, describing Francatelli as "the Italian confectioner", describes him as liking "his elaborate sugar decorations. He also talks about making pearls, birds and feathers out of sugar to decorate your dessert course." She compares it to a meal in

Daisy Ashford Margaret Mary Julia Devlin (née Ashford; 3 April 1881 – 15 January 1972), known as Daisy Ashford, was an English writer who is most famous for writing ''The Young Visiters'', a novella concerning the upper class society of late 19th century ...

's ''

The Young Visiters ''The Young Visiters'' or ''Mister Salteena's Plan'' is a 1919 novel by English writer Daisy Ashford (1881–1972). She wrote it when she was nine years old and part of its appeal lies in its juvenile innocence, and its unconventional grammar an ...

'', and comments that while such fiddly decoration may have looked good, she wasn't sure it did anything for the taste.

In media

In ''Victoria'' Charles Francatelli is played by

Ferdinand Kingsley Ferdinand James M. Kingsley (born 13 February 1988) is a British actor. He is known for portraying the roles of Hamza Bey in the film ''Dracula Untold'' (2014), Mr. Francatelli in the television series ''Victoria'' (2016–2019), Irving Thalberg ...

. In the series, Francatelli works at the palace for several years until he marries Nancy Skerrett, the Queen's Head Dresser, and the couple leaves the palace to open their own hotel. But in real life, Francatelli never married the Queen's Head Dresser (whose real name was

Marianne Skerrett Marianne Skerrett (20 June 1793 – 29 July 1887) was a British courtier. She was a ''Dresser'' ( lady's maid) to Queen Victoria between 1837 and 1862.Helen Rappaport: Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion', 2003 Biography She was born in Lon ...

References

External links