Soyer's Culinary Campaign Being Historical Reminiscences of the Late War 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. This work, first published in 1857, gives a vivid account of his efforts to prepare nutritious meals for the soldiers using a newly invented portable field stove, which remained in use until the Second World War. Also reissued in this series are Soyer's Gastronomic Regenerator (1846) and The Modern Housewife or Ménagère (1849).

Introduction; 1. By rail and coach to Virginia Water; 2. A summons to Stafford House; 3. Off to the war; 4. Delights of travel; 5. Comfort on shore and penance at sea; 6. The land of the Moslem; 7. A bird's-eye view of Constantinople from Pera; 8. First view of the scene of action; 9. Commencement of the culinary campaign; 10. A tour round the kitchens; 11. First operations; 12. The Scutari mission accomplished; 13. Departure for the Crimea; 14. Commencement of my campaign in the Crimea; 15. The English and Turkish commanders-in-chief; 16. A new enemy; 17. Reception at English and French head-quarters; 18. A universal calamity; 19. Haps and mishaps in camp; 20. Expeditions on horse and on foot; 21. Matters grave and gay; 22. Preparations for another trip; 23. Our steam voyage in the London; 24. Three weeks at Scutari; 25. Festivities at Scutari and visits to French hospitals; 26. My second trip to the Crimea; 27. Camp life at head-quarters; 28. My great field-day; 29. The eighth of September; 30. Fall of the doomed city; 31. Illness and change of scene; 32. Camp of the Fourth Division; 33. Hostilities at table; 34. Crimean festivities; 35. Last days of British occupation of the Crimea; 36. Last scene of our strange and eventful history; Addenda; Index.