| Memoirs of Alexis Soyer: With Unpublished Receipts and Odds and Ends of Gastronomy Contributor(s): Soyer, Alexis (Author), Volant, F. (Editor), Warren, J. R. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 1108063314 ISBN-13: 9781108063319 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $46.54 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2013 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Great Britain - General - Cooking | History |
| Dewey: 641.509 |
| Series: Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19 |
| Physical Information: 0.73" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (0.91 lbs) 324 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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 Fran ois Volant and James Warren published this anecdotal and admiring biography in 1859, together with recipes and other cookery writings. |