Charles Elme Francatelli (1805–1876)

“…English and Foreign. A practical treatise on the art of confectionary in all its branches; comprising ornamental confectionary artistically developed; different methods of preserving fruits, fruit pulps, and juices in bottles, the preparation of jams and jellies, fruit, and other syrups, summer beverages, and a great variety of National drinks with directions for making dessert cakes, plain and fancy bread, candies, bonbons, comfits, spiritus essences, and cordials..

ALSO the art of ice-making and the arrangement and general economy of fashionable desserts.… (más)

Plain, fairly easy-to-follow instructions to make basic dishes. Some dishes are still familiar: roast fowl, rice pudding, meat pie. Others sound a bit odd to modern ears: Cocky Leaky, Italian cheese (which is bits of pig and seasonings baked together until spreadable), baked bullock's heart. Some measurements are in Imperial, but others are things like "a pennyworth of mixed pickles", "half-a-gill" of vinegar, or "pieces about the size of a pigeon's egg". In terms of ingredients, bread and herbs predominate, with a lot of oatmeal, rice, and salted pork. The cheeks, heels, and organs of animals are commonly used as well. Interestingly, although ketchup and curry were already common enough to Victorian audiences that Francatelli doesn't think to explain them, the poor were still going to bakers to bake their food. Additionally, it's clear that Francatelli is writing for a fairly urban audience, because although he assumes everyone knows how to pluck a fowl or will make their own fruit preserves, he also gives very detailed instructions on how to break down a pig's body. His audience is at an odd stage in society, where they don't raise or grow their own food but still deal wtih ingredients at their most basic level.

Can be read for free here.… (más)