Portrait of Charles Elmé Francatelli by Joseph Brown, 1861, Frontispiece to The Cook's Guide

The palace chef, Mr. Francatelli, took an early interest in Miss Skerrett, the queen’s head dresser, and during the first season of PBS’ “Victoria,” we watched as he wooed her. Francatelli served. 'A chef to nobility and a cook for the common man' One of the culinary legends of his time, Charles Elme Francatelli(1805-1876) was an Italian who journeyed to France for the opportunity to study under the legendary Chef Marie Antoine Careme who many call 'the architect of French cuisine.'

Engraving of Francatelli drawn by Auguste Hervieu and engraved by Samuel Freeman, probably in 1846, Frontispiece to The Modern Cook, 1845

'Salmon à la Chambord', a decorated serving-dish from The Modern Cook

Charles Elmé Francatelli (1805–10 August 1876) was an Italian Britishcook,^[1] known for his cookery books popular in the Victorian era, such as The Modern Cook.

Biography[edit]

Francatelli was born in London, of Italian extraction, in 1805, and was educated in France, where he studied the art of cookery. Coming 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 from 9 March 1840 to 31 March 1842,^[2] 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 from 1854 to 1861. He was Manager of the St James's Hotel, at the corner of Berkeley Street and Piccadilly, from 1863 to 1870. He worked as chef de cuisine to the Prince and Princess of Wales at the nearby Marlborough House from early 1863 until at least late September 1866. From 1870 to 76 he was manager of the Freemasons' Tavern.^[3]^[4]

Works[edit]

Francatelli was the author of The Modern Cook (1845);^[5] of 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 Confectionery Book (1862). Francatelli died at Eastbourne.

A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes was reprinted in 1993, complete with the original advertisements and introduction.

Reception[edit]

Clarissa Dickson Wright, 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's The Young Visiters, and comments that while such fiddly decoration may have looked good, she wasn't sure it did anything for the taste.^[6]

In media[edit]

In Victoria Charles Francatelli is played by Ferdinand Kingsley. In the series, Francatelli works at the palace for several years until he marries Nancy Skerrett, the Queen's Head Dresser,^[7] and the couple leaves the palace to open their own hotel.^[8] But in real life, Francatelli never married the Queen's Head Dresser (whose real name was Marianne Skerrett).^[9]

References[edit]

^'Francatelli, Charles Elmé' . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
^Account books of the Lord Steward of the Royal Household for 1840–42, National Archive, Kew, refs. LS 2/66, LS 2/67 and LS 2/68
^Colin Smythe, 'Charles Elmé Francatelli, Crockford's and the Royal Connection' in Petits Propos Culinaires 101 (2014), pp. 42–67, and 'Charles Elmé Francatelli, Additions & Supplementations' in Petits Propos Culinaires 102 (2015), pp. 100–118
^Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). 'Francatelli, Charles Elmé'. Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 774–775.
^The Modern Cook
^Wright, Clarissa Dickson (2011). A History of English Food. Random House. pp. 340–341. ISBN978-1-905-21185-2.
^London Bridge is falling down. Victoria Series 3 2019. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8098850/?ref_=ttep_ep2
^Foreign bodies. Victoria Series 3 2019. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9280046/?ref_=ttep_ep4.
^Dennison, Matthew (2016). ITV didn't need to embellish Queen Victoria's life... https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/sep/03/itv-didnt-need-to-embellish-queen-victoria-life

External links[edit]

Works by Charles Elmé Francatelli at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Charles Elmé Francatelli at Internet Archive

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Elmé_Francatelli&oldid=967724352'

Portrait of Charles Elmé Francatelli. Joseph Brown (1809-1887). From: The Cook’s Guide. Wikimedia.

Despite his name and his French training, Charles Elmé Francatelli was English by nationality. He wrote several important cookbooks, and held in succession three of the most prestigious cooking positions in England at the time.

Early years

Francatelli was born in London in 1805, but grew up in France. His parents were Nicholas and Sarah Francatelli. In Paris, he learnt cooking, getting a diploma from the Parisian College of Cooking, and working under people such as Carême.

Upon his return to England, he worked for various places such as Rossie Priory and Chesterfield House as “chef de cuisine” for the Earl of Chesterfield, and at Chislehurst in Kent for Sir Herbert Jenner-Fust.

First stint at the famous Crockford’s Club

By 4 February 1839, he was working as chef at Crockford’s Club in London, a gambling gentleman’s gambling club, taking over from its previous chef Louis Eustache Ude, who had just quit in a salary dispute at the start of February (Disraeli didn’t think much of Francatelli’s chances at following in Ude’s footsteps, but time was to prove him wrong.)

Laura Mabel Francatelli

Queen Victoria

While at Crockford’s, he made the acquaintance of William George Hay, the 18th Earl of Errol. In November of 1939, Hay became the Lord Steward of the Queen’s Household.

On the 8th of March 1840, the chief cook at Buckingham Palace left his position. On Hay’s recommendation, Francatelli took his place the very next day. He was in this position from 9 March 1840 to 31 March 1842 as maître d’hôtel and “chief cook in ordinary.”.

Francatelli reputedly exhibited a chef’s temperament in the kitchens, which caused him to quarrel with the Chief Comptroller of the Household, a Mr Norton, and be suspended from his position. (Hay was not around to defend him, as he had left his Chief Steward position earlier on 30 August 1841.) He did return to work, but a three month notice was given (either by him or the Palace). He subsequently finished his work there on 31st March 1842.

Charles Francatelli's Wife

“[Francatelli’s] treatise on gastronomy, published by Bentley, was alone sufficient to place him in the front rank of the scientific professors of the art. He was many years chef at Chesterfield House, when its dinners were the admiration of the gastronomic world of London. We subsequently trace him by his reputation to Rossie Priory (Lord Kinnaird’s), and to the Melton Club, or Reunion, of which Lord Kinnaird, Sir W. M. Stanley, Mr. Rowland Errington, Mr. Lyne Stephens, and the late Count Matuzavicz were the members. He succeeded Ude as maitre d’hôtel at Crockford’s, and was afterwards, through the discriminating patronage of the late Earl of Erroll, promoted