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The Modern Cook
Book by Charles Elmé Francatelli from 1846 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 1896. It was also published in America.
![]() Title page of 21st edition | |
Author | Charles Elmé Francatelli |
---|---|
Illustrator | 60 engravings, artists not named |
Subject | Professional cooking |
Publisher | Richard Bentley & Son |
Publication date | 1846 (1846) |
Publication place | England |
Pages | 560 (1886 ed.) |
The book offered elaborate dishes, described with French terminology such as bisque, entrées, entremets, vol-au-vent, timbale and soufflé. It included bills of fare for meals for up to 300 people, and for a series of eight- or nine-course dinners served to Queen Victoria; one exceptional royal dinner in 1841 had sixteen entrées and sixteen entremets, including truffles in Champagne.
The book, written for upper middle-class housewives, is illustrated with 60 engravings, often showing how to present carefully decorated centrepiece dishes such as "Salmon à la Chambord" for large dinner parties.
The book influenced households in Britain and America to aspire to more complex, French-style dinners in imitation of the Queen, and resulted in a change in eating habits, including the modern two-course approach for both lunch and dinner.