Memoirs of Alexis Soyer With Unpublished Receipts and Odds and Ends of Gastronomy Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century Series

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.