{"product_id":"portrait-of-a-chef-the-life-of-alexis-soyer-sometime-chef-to-the-reform-club-paperback-9781108061698","title":"Portrait of a Chef; The Life of Alexis Soyer, Sometime Chef to the Reform Club (Paperback \/ softback) 9781108061698","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003ePortrait of a Chef\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eThe Life of Alexis Soyer, Sometime Chef to the Reform Club\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA 1938 biography of the flamboyant Alexis Soyer (1810–58), arguably the greatest chef of the nineteenth century.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eHelen Soutar Morris (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781108061698, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 13 June 2013\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e254 pages, 26 b\/w illus.\u003cbr\u003e21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.33 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePerhaps 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. First published in 1938, this biography by Helen Soutar Morris (1909–95) is based on François Volant and James Warren's anecdotal account of 1859 (also reissued in this series), and it faithfully conveys the adulation that Soyer engendered in his lifetime.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePrologue\u003cbr\u003e 1. Early life\u003cbr\u003e 2. Emma Jones\u003cbr\u003e 3. Chef de cuisine to the Reform Club\u003cbr\u003e 4. The Gastronomic Regenerator\u003cbr\u003e 5. Inventions\u003cbr\u003e 6. Banquets\u003cbr\u003e 7. Soup-kitchens: Ireland and Spitalfields\u003cbr\u003e 8. The Modern Housewife\u003cbr\u003e 9. Resignation: work in the provinces\u003cbr\u003e 10. The 'Gastronomic Symposium of All Nations'\u003cbr\u003e 11. The years 1851–4\u003cbr\u003e 12. Soyer at Scutari\u003cbr\u003e 13. Culinary campaign: veni\u003cbr\u003e 14. Culinary campaign: vidi\u003cbr\u003e 15. Culinary campaign: vici\u003cbr\u003e 16. 'Ars longa, vita brevis'\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue\u003cbr\u003e Appendices\u003cbr\u003e Index.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: British \u0026amp; Irish history [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on British \u0026amp; Irish history\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22British%20\u0026amp;%20Irish%20history%20%5BHBJD1%5D%22\"\u003eHBJD1\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45913122406680,"sku":"9781108061698","price":26.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/products\/9781108061698i_b634b79c-402e-4c88-900b-176df2b7d912.jpg?v=1696748416","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/portrait-of-a-chef-the-life-of-alexis-soyer-sometime-chef-to-the-reform-club-paperback-9781108061698","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}