The Victorian Chef
In this post, I would like to focus
on Victorian chefs and how they present their cookbooks. The two chefs I will focus on
are Charles Elmè
Francatelli and Alexis Soyer. Soyer is more widely known for his art but
Francatelli is less popular. Taught in France (to be clear Francatelli was not
French), these chef’s were exposed to exquisite kitchens and worked under
extravagant persons. Exploring their cookbooks
and personal upbringing, I found that their writing is a reflection of distinct
relationships between rich upper class and working class peoples.
Many
working class people were uninformed to cooking properly, and in turn their
meals lacked nutrition and variety. In turn, many renowned chefs began writing
cookbooks that catered to them. Some even personally shared their methods with
the poor, and suggested ways they could cook cost-effectively. Assuming poor
families did not have much time to prepare meals, I believe families that used
these cookbooks benefitted greatly. One particular chef was Charles Elmè Francatelli, born in 1805. Although he was an Englishman, he
studied the art of cooking in France, and earned his diploma from the Parisian
College. After returning to England, “In 1850, he then became
chef at the Reform Club, taking over from Alexis Benoit Soyer, who had resigned
in May of that year” (cooksinfo.com).
One
of his renowned cookbooks, entitled “A Plain Cookery Book for the Working
Classes”, was written in 1861and later reprinted by Pryor Publications in 1993.
Francatelli truly enjoyed cooking, and wrote this cookbook to ensure that those
who used it would make the best meal without using a wide variety of utensils,
or spend a great deal of money. Although poor families would be saving their
pound, it didn’t mean that the recipes he wrote were dull or bland—they ranged
from simple everyday meals to more extravagant ones for holidays. Francatelli’s
book provided an economical and practical way to boil different meats, make
sauces, puddings, meat pies, tea, coffee, beer and breakfast foods. Some key
ingredients for these dishes came from scraps, or the less popular cuts of the
animal like bones or the heel of a cow to make soup. Here is a fine recipe that
includes beef:
This is an economical dinner, especially where there are many
mouths to feed. Buy a few pounds of either salt brisket, thick or thin flank,
or buttock of beef; these pieces are always to be had at a low rate. Let us
suppose you have bought a piece of salt beef for a Sunday's dinner, weighing
about five pounds, at 6 1/2d. per pound, that would
come to 2s. 8 1/2d.; two pounds of common flour, 4d., to be made into suet pudding or dumplings, and
say 8 1/2d. for cabbages, parsnips, and potatoes; altogether
3s. 9d. This would produce a substantial dinner for ten persons in family,
and would, moreover, as children do not require much meat when they have
pudding, admit of there being enough left to help out the next day's dinner,
with potatoes.
His cookbook also contained recipes for meals in bulk,
which was beneficial when the weather was harsh. He emphasized that his
“excellent practice should become more generally adopted, especially during the
winter, when their scanty means of subsistence but sufficiently yield them food
in quantity to sustain the powers of life in a condition equal to their hard
labour”. In publishing this cookbook, Francatelli showed that although he was
very successful in his career, he still cared about the health and well-being
of those who were not as fortunate as him.
Looking
closer into the vocabulary and tone of Francatelli’s, “A Plain Cookery Book for
the Working Classes”, I found that Francatelli is genuine and not demeaning.
Even on the first page, I could tell that he wrote the cookbook because he
cared and not for recognition. He introduces his cookbook as a means to save
families money, encouraging them to abide by his instructions because he knows
it will be beneficial for them, “…strive to lay by a little of your weekly
wages to purchase these things, that your families may be well fed, and your
homes made comfortable.”(47). Francatelli also gives the impression that,
although he is the knowledgeable on giving direction, these families will be able
to do it on their own terms: “…you will all be able to test in your own homes”
(47). There is an amount of respect that Francatelli has, dissimilar to the
next chef to be discussed, Alexis Soyer.
Alexis
Soyer was born February 4th, 1810 in France, Meaux-en Brie. Although
it is rumored that his mother wanted him to join the church, he got caught up
in the art of cooking under his older brother, Phillipe. One of his first major
accomplishments was becoming chief cook at Boulevard des Italiens, one of the
four grands boulevards, a place where
upper class peoples would meet. Later in 1831, he accepted employment in the
London Kitchen of the Duke of Cambridge (this is where his brother Phillipe
worked) where he worked for a number of marvelous people, including: The Duke
of Sutherland, the Marquis of Waterford and the Marquis of Ailsa at Isleworth. In 1837 he was graced with an
appointment at the Reform Club in London, but later asked to leave: “Alexis hearing about the plight of the Irish peasants,
during the potato famine of 1847, asked by Russell's government for help. The
Reform Club granted him leave of absence. Alexis went to Dublin, Ireland, and
set up the first properly designed soup kitchen” (soyer.co.uk). Although this
may have seemed like a humble act of kindness, I was not sure of the
authenticity of his actions.
Soyer claimed he was interested in learning about the ways and habits of the working
class, and also that wanted to make himself useful by sharing his knowledge of
cooking with them. He wrote Shilling Cookery for the People (1854), in which a series of letters written to a
fictional character named ‘Eloise’. In one particular passage, Soyer is
writing to Eloise about his experience attempting to teach a woman how to cook
ox cheeks correctly. Before she was able to receive proper instruction, the
woman had been overcooking the meat and wasting lots of ingredients. After a
quick lesson from Soyer, though, the woman learned the correct way to cook and
even shared the recipe with her neighbours. Looking closer into the dialogue,
though, Soyer is condescending, and some phrases altered my view of his
intention.
First,
Soyer seems condescending through a strange way of describing snacks to be
given to children: “when cold, may be cut into pieces, and given to children as
food.”(35). My thought here was, what else would it be useful for? I find that
Soyer is hinting that poor children are barbarous creatures, or animals. He is
also condescending when he makes comments about the lack of quality of utensils
and dishes in the poor woman’s home. When the meal was done cooking, he states,
“serving cups into a beer jug, having nothing better, and, to her grat
surprise, cut the cheek with a very bad knife”(35). These statements did not
need to be said, and could have been left out—it is obvious that underprivileged
people won’t own high quality utensils. It made me wonder if he was really
writing these cookbooks for the poor or with
the intention of amusing individuals of his rank.
Second,
it seems as if Soyer may have published this cookbook too feel good about
himself, or for fame: “and what a high feeling of delight and satisfaction it
will be to us, should we find out that the result of our labour is crowned with
success”(34). Soyer’s tone of voice here seems unaware or neglectful of the
plight of the poor. Also, even though he seems to want to immerse himself in
the culture of the working class, he does not seem very deeply interested or to
take them seriously, “I have made a point of visiting the cottages and abodes
of the industrious classes generally”(33).
The
Barton Family in Mary Barton exemplifies
a poor family unit that may not have needed the expertise of Francatelli or
Soyer. In the second chapter, where the Barton family is to have guests over
for tea, Mary is sent out for groceries. Mrs. Barton tells Mary to get eggs, a
pound and a half of Cumberland ham, a pennyworth of milk, a loaf of bread and
six penny of rum for the tea (ch.2). She gets it and proceeds to fry the eggs
and ham for breakfast. The significance of this excerpt is that not all poor
families needed guidance or handouts to live happy, full lives, “What an aspect of comfort did his houseplace present…”
(ch.2)
When
comparing Soyer and Francatelli, they were both established chefs who worked at
variety of kitchens in Europe. They took leave from their high positions to go
and do service that benefitted the poor. Getting out of their comfort zones,
though, may have brought out the bitter truth in Soyer’s view of the poor. In
contrast, Francatelli doesn’t intrude or give light to the lack of luxury items
in working class homes, or appear to condescend. On the bright side, though,
any feeling each chef has towards the working class is irrelevant because of
the positive i mpact they brought to many individuals with empty stomachs.
Bibliography:
Bloy, Marjie. "Alexis Soyer (1809--1858)." Alexis
Soyer (1809--1858). Marjie Bloy, Ph. D., Senior Research Fellow, the
Victorian Web, 22 Apr. 2002. Web. Nov. 2014.
"Charles Elmé Francatelli." Cooksinfo.com.
N.p., 30 Dec. 2005. Web. Nov. 2014.
Evans, Dyfed L. "Celtnet Francatelli Recipes and Cookery,
Home Page Read More at Celtnet:
Http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/francatelli.php Copyright © Celtnet." Celnet.org.
Celnet, n.d. Web. Nov. 2014.
Ford, Frank C. "Alexis Benoist Soyer Soyer.co.uk." Alexis
Benoist Soyer Soyer.co.uk. Frank Clementlor Ford, n.d. Web. Nov. 2014.
Francatelli, Charles Elmè. Whitstable: Pryor Publications, 1993.
Print.
Shilling Cookery for the People. Whitstable: Pryor Publications, 1999. 33-37. Print.
Mary Barton. Project Gutenberg.Release Date: August 10, 1999 [eBook #2153]This revision released December 9, 2013. Web. Nov. 2014.
Mary Barton. Project Gutenberg.Release Date: August 10, 1999 [eBook #2153]This revision released December 9, 2013. Web. Nov. 2014.
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