A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes (Dodo Press)

Charles Elmé Francatelli (1805-1876), Anglo-Italian cook, 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 manager of Crockfords club. He left Crockfords to become chief cook to Queen Victoria, and afterwards he was chef at the Reform Club. He was the author of: The Modern Cook (1845), A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes (1852), The Cook's Guide, and Housekeeper's and Butler's Assistant (1862) and The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book (1862). A collection of his recipes - Chef to Queen Victoria: The Recipes of Charles Elme Francatelli Chef to Queen Victoria - was published in 1973.