Florentines at Fortnum's
Florentines at Fortnum's
Today, we're exploring the link between Fortnum’s and the delicious disk we only started selling in the 1950s, but has since become a bit of a Fortnum's favourite.
Surprisingly the Florentine is not an Italian biscuit, as the name might suggest, but French. It was the French skill at creating fancy pastries and dainty sweet treats in the 17th century, that gave birth to this chocolatey, fruit and nut delight. Legend has it that the name was inspired by Catherine de Medici (1519-1589), the French Queen of Florentine origins. Many French dishes based upon a roux are termed as Florentine (such as Eggs Florentine) and as the first step involves making just that, it may explain why the biscuit gained this name.
With a helping hand from our archivists, we'll be uncovering the scrumptious story of this brilliant biscuit.
The biscuits made their way to Fortnum’s in 1958, with a fabulous introduction in The Times newspaper with a description that would make anyone curious to try a ‘dream island’! They also made their way into the Christmas catalogue that year, a tin selling for the cost of 10s 6d. Their introduction may have been down to the influence of the celebrity chef Jean Conil (the subject of a previous Friday Focus). He started as Executive Chef in 1950, soon becoming overall Catering Manager, and his standards shaped food and buying within the company until the 1980s.
He was determined to improve the quality of gastronomy in Britain and, whilst at Fortnum’s, wrote his famous cookery book Haute Cuisine in 1953. This included a recipe for Florentines, 5 years before we sold the product, and it could potentially have been an almost identical recipe to the product we baked onsite.
The first Florentines could be bought in tins or by weight, and one of the earliest Florentine tins we have in the archive is this 1960s packaging (a similar design was also used for our petit fours).
The packaging has changed over the years, continuing to be sold in tins through the 1990s (included in the 1999 Christmas Durham box, with a plate prominently placed). Into the new Millennium, in addition to launching our giant version, we began to showcase the biscuits themselves, letting the beauty of the product tempt customers.
Although mainly a product customers purchased on the Ground Floor, the Florentine made a star appearance in the Parlour in the last decade, with the mouthwatering sundae called a Florentine Fancy, showcased on Instagram in 2017.
As far as we can tell, the flavours we sold remained traditional until fairly recently, and we've even launched a new maple, pecan, and orange offering, which are currently tempting customers on the Ground Floor.
With the ever-growing range of flavours, and a dedicated Fortnum’s webpage, this heavenly treat holds its popularity with our customers. So, whether you love them with white chocolate, salted caramel or simply need a giant one to satisfy your craving, here’s to the Florentine, long may it continue to fill our teatime with joy.