Memoirs of Alexis Soyer
With Unpublished Receipts and Odds and Ends of Gastronomy

An 1859 anecdotal biography, including recipes, of Alexis Soyer (1810–58), arguably the greatest chef of the nineteenth century.

Alexis Soyer (Author), F. Volant (Edited by), J. R. Warren (Edited by)

9781108063319, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2013

324 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

Perhaps the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer (1810–58) was a flamboyant, larger-than-life character who nonetheless took his profession very seriously. As the chef of the Reform Club, he modernised its kitchens, installing refrigerators and gas cookers. In 1851, during the Great Exhibition, he prepared spectacular (but financially ruinous) culinary extravaganzas at his restaurant, the Gastronomic Symposium of All Nations. In stark contrast, he organised soup kitchens during the Great Famine in Ireland and volunteered his services in the Crimea in 1855 to improve military catering. He was also a prolific inventor of kitchen gadgets, notably promoting the Magic Stove, used for cooking food at the table. Several of his highly popular cookery books have been reissued in this series. Following his death, his secretaries François Volant and James Warren published this anecdotal and admiring biography in 1859, together with recipes and other cookery writings.

Preface
Introduction
1. His early life
2. Soyer's arrival in England
3. Madame Soyer's biography
4. The Reform Club
5. Death of Madame Soyer
6. Soyer a widower
7. M. Soyer resumes his post at the Reform Club
8. Soyer's peculiarities
9. Soyer in his zenith
10. Bouquet of game
11. Soyer's departure for Ireland
12. His first sauce
13. The Modern Housewife
14. Farewell to the Reform Club
15. Soyer's return to London
16. Soyer's symposium
17. More discoveries
18. The last stage
Addenda.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]