author
Charles Elmé Francatelli
1805–1876
A celebrity chef of Victorian Britain, he brought grand French technique to English kitchens and turned it into bestselling cookery books. His writing ranges from lavish high-style dishes to practical food for ordinary households, showing unusual range for his era.
1 Audiobook
A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes
by Charles Elmé Francatelli
About the author
Born in London in 1805 to a family of Italian background, he was educated in France and trained in the Paris culinary world under the influential chef Antonin Carême. That grounding in classic French cookery helped shape the elegant, highly structured style that later made him one of the best-known chefs in Britain.
Back in England, he worked for leading aristocratic households and major clubs, including Crockford's and the Reform Club, and he also served as chief cook to Queen Victoria. In Victorian London he built a reputation not only as a working chef but as a public authority on food.
He is best remembered today for his cookery writing, especially The Modern Cook, along with books such as The Cook's Guide and A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes. Those works helped preserve both the luxurious side of 19th-century dining and a more practical, economical approach to everyday meals. He died in Eastbourne on August 10, 1876.