THE MODERN COOK; A Practical Guide to the Culinary Art in All its Branches, Comprising, in Additon to English Cookery, the Most Approved and Recherché Systems of French, Italian, and German Cookery; Adapted as Well For the Largest Establishments as for the Use of Private Families

Nineteenth Century Edition. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece of Francatelli, Maitre d'Hotel and Chief Cook to Her Majesty the Queen and 60 illustrations throughout. Tall 8vo, publisher's original dark green diced cloth, the spine lettered and pictorially decorated in gilt, the covers with triple fillet rules at the borders. xv, [1], 560 pp. A fine and unusually well preserved copy, near as pristine, the hinges strong, tight and unblemished. A lovely copy. A FINE COPY OF THIS ENORMOUSLY POPULAR AND FAMOUS COOK BOOK. Francatelli was born in London, of Italian descent. He was educated in France, where he studied the art of cookery under Marie-Antoine Carême. 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 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 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. The Modern Cook was the first cookery book Francatelli and was popular for half a century in the Victorian era, running through 29 London editions by 1896. It was also published in America. The book offers elaborate dishes, described with French terminology such as bisque, entrées, entremets, vol-au-vent, timbale and soufflé. It included bills of fare, 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 is illustrated with 60 engravings, often showing how to present carefully decorated centrepiece dishes such as "Salmon à la Chambord" for large dinner parties. Francatelli's Modern Cook 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. wiki