Procopio Cutò: Difference between revisions
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Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli | |
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| Born | February 9th, 1651 Palermo or Aci Trezza, France |
| Died | February 10, 1727 Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | French entrepreneur |
Procopio Cutò, or Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, or Francesco Procopio dei Knives, was a Sicilian nobleman at the time of the reign of Louis XIV of France. He was an Italian cook that learned the culinary business as his career trade.[1]
Procopio founded in 1686 the oldest extant cafe-restaurant in the world, Cafe Procope.
Cafe Procope became the first literary coffeehouse. The restaurant for over 200 years attracted those of notoriety in the world of arts, politics and literature.[2]
Biography
Procopio was born near Mount Etna in Sicily. He received his name of dei Coltelli from the French. They misunderstood his Sicilian family name of Cutò to mean "coltelli", which mean knives in Italian. They also got his name mixed up with "couteaux" which means knives in French. Hence Procopio dei Coltelli and Procopio dei Knives, the other names he is known by.[1]
Growing up so close to the mountain he played in the snow when he was a boy, typical of children worldwide that are in the northern or mountainous regions where there is snowfall. At that time period the snow was mixed with fruit juices and honey to make a type of sorbet. This type of "ice cream" was eaten by both rich aristocrats and by peasants.[1]
Procopio worked first as a fisherman like his father Onofio. His grandfather Francesco, becomming part of his name, was also a fisherman. It turned out that his grandfather built gelato machines part time, when he was not fishing. Francesco eventually left his invention to Procopio as an inheritance. Procopio tinkered with his grandfather's gelato machine making various improvements.[1] Procopio eventually felt that he had developed a machine that would produce gelato on a large scale.
Procopio took up the skills to become a cook, possibly in Florence or Palermo.[3] He apprenticed under the leadership of Armenian immigrants Pascal and Maliban.[4] Procopio eventually moved to Paris in 1685 and obtained French citizenship.[3] Then in 1686 he opened up a kiosk in the heart of Paris and called it "Le Procope", his nickname in French.[1] At first he was just a lemonade vender (limonadier).[3] He had a royal license to sell spices, ices, and barley water. He soon added coffee to his refreshments' list and the kiosk became a coffee house cafe.[3] It was the first cafe in Paris and still exists today, over 300 years later.[5]
The history of gelato shows Procopio as a most influential person to promote this new food. [6] He was one of the first to sell this product to the public, which he did in his new cafe.[6]
Procopio's café became a very popular cultural and political gathering place. Certain notable people that frequented the cafe throughout history have been Voltaire, Maximilien Robespierre, Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, Honoré de Balzac Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, François-Marie Arouet, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Georges Danton, Jean-Paul Marat, Honoré de Balzac and Denis Diderot .[1]
Family
Procopio married Marguerite Crouin around 1675. Together they had eight children. He married a second time as an elderly man and fathered five more children. He was married a third time.[1]
Notes
Sources
- Fitch, Noël Riley et al, The Grand Literary Cafes of Europe, New Holland Publishers, 2006, ISBN 1-8453711-4-3
- Portinari, Folco, Voglia di gelato, Milano, Idea Libri, 1987, ISBN 8-8708211-3-7.
- Ukers, William H., All About Coffee - The Project Gutenberg EBook