The Modern Cook facts for kids
Title page of 21st edition
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| Author | Charles Elmé Francatelli |
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| Illustrator | 60 engravings, artists not named |
| Country | England |
| Subject | Professional cooking |
| Publisher | Richard Bentley & Son |
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Publication date
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1846 |
| Pages | 560 (1886 ed.) |
The Modern Cook was a very popular cookbook written by the famous chef Charles Elmé Francatelli. It was first published in 1846. This book was a big hit for about 50 years during the Victorian era. It had 29 different editions printed in London by 1896. It was also published in America.
The book shared recipes for fancy dishes. It used many French cooking terms like bisque (a creamy soup), entrées (main dishes), entremets (side dishes or desserts), vol-au-vent (a puff pastry case), timbale (a drum-shaped mold), and soufflé (a light, airy baked dish). It even included menus for meals for up to 300 people! It also had menus for special dinners served to Queen Victoria. One amazing royal dinner in 1841 had 16 main dishes and 16 side dishes, including expensive truffles cooked in Champagne.
The Modern Cook was the first book to mention putting ice cream into wafer cones. The book was written for wealthy housewives. It has 60 pictures, often showing how to arrange beautifully decorated dishes. These were often centerpieces for big dinner parties, like "Salmon à la Chambord."
This cookbook helped change how people ate in Britain and America. Families wanted to cook more complex, French-style meals, just like the Queen. This led to a new way of eating, with modern two-course meals for both lunch and dinner.
Contents
Meet the Chef: Charles Elmé Francatelli
Charles Elmé Francatelli was born in London in 1805. His family was Italian. He learned how to cook in France. When he came back to England, he worked for many important people. He became the head chef at Crockford's club. Then, in 1840, he became the chief cook for Queen Victoria. After that, he worked at other famous clubs and hotels. He even cooked for the Prince of Wales. All this made him a very famous chef in his time.
About the Book
How the Recipes Are Written
After the introduction and some advice on serving wine, the book is mostly just recipes. It doesn't tell you what kitchen tools you need. It also doesn't give advice on how to set up your kitchen.
The recipes are given as step-by-step instructions. They usually don't have pictures. Sometimes, the amount of an ingredient is mentioned in the text. For example, for "Cream Bechamel Sauce," it says, "Put six ounces of fresh butter into a middle-sized stewpan." But ingredients are never listed separately.
Sometimes, only the general amounts are given. For "Salmis of Partridges with Aspic Jelly," it just says "must be mixed with one-third of its quantity of aspic jelly." The recipes also tell you to look at other recipe numbers for parts of the dish. For example, "Prepare the salmis as directed in No. 1078."
The Modern Cook was the first book in England to show how to fill wafer cones with ice cream. Francatelli called these cones gauffres. He used them to decorate his iced puddings.
What's Inside the Book
The 28th edition of the book from 1886 had many different types of recipes. It started with a list of cooking words. Then it had sections for different kinds of dishes. These included:
- Sauces (like Grand Sauces and Cold Sauces)
- Purees and Garnishes (for decorating food)
- Gravies and Butters
- Soups (many different kinds, including clear soups and soups for babies)
- Dressed Fish (like Salmon, Trout, and Cod)
- Removes (large meat dishes like Beef, Veal, and Lamb)
- Entrees (main dishes like Pies and casseroles)
- Roasts (like game and poultry)
- Vegetables and Egg dishes
- Cold dishes for parties
- Different kinds of Pastry and Cakes
- Fritters (fried dough)
- Iced Puddings and fancy desserts
- Souffles, Puddings, Jellies, and Creams
- Mincemeats
The book also gave instructions for serving wines. At the end, it had many different menus (Bills of Fare) and an index to help you find recipes.
Pictures in the Book
The 28th edition of the book has 60 pictures. Most of them are small drawings. There is a full-page picture of Francatelli himself at the front of the book. This picture was drawn by Auguste Hervieu.
All the other pictures show finished dishes. They show the serving plate with the food arranged on it. The food often looks very fancy and decorated. We don't know who drew or engraved these food pictures.
Sample Menus (Bills of Fare)
Francatelli included many sample menus, called "Bills of Fare." These were for every month of the year. They showed dinners for different numbers of people, from 6 to 36. The menus for 6 people were the simplest. All dinners had a first and second "Course." But each course had three or four servings, often with a choice of dishes.
For example, a first "Course" might have two soups, two fish dishes, two meat dishes, and two savory main dishes. The second "Course" might have game (like roasted birds) and then three "entremets." These "entremets" could be savory vegetables or sweet desserts.
There was also a menu for a "Ball Supper for 300 Persons." And one for a "Public Dinner" for the same number of people.
The book also has 13 menus for "Her Majesty's Dinner." Each one has a date from 1841. It says "(Under the control of C. Francatelli.)" This means Francatelli planned these meals. Most of these royal dinners had eight or nine courses. One special dinner on June 30, 1841, had 11 courses!
The royal dinner menus were mostly written in French. Only a few words were in English, like "Side Board," "Roast Mutton," and "Haunch of Venison." These dinners usually had two soups, two fish dishes, two large meat dishes, six main dishes, two roasts, two more large meat dishes, six side dishes or desserts, and several dishes on the sideboard. The special dinner on June 30, 1841, had 16 main dishes and 16 side dishes. Some of these fancy side dishes used very expensive ingredients, like truffles cooked in Champagne.
When the Book Was Published
The Modern Cook first came out in 1846. It was so popular that its 29th edition was printed in 1896. Francatelli even gave a copy of the 8th edition to Queen Victoria on June 4, 1853.
The book was printed by Richard Bentley & Son in London. It was also published in America by companies like Lea and Blanchard in Philadelphia. It was reprinted many times over the years, even as late as 1973.
Images for kids
