The People's Chef
Alexis Soyer, a Life in Seven Courses
Published on 23. April 2004
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-470-86991-8 (ISBN)
Description
During the first half of the nineteenth century, Alexis Soyer, a Frenchman from Meaux, was the most famous cook in London. A combination of chance, talent and social conscience took him into many of the great events of his time. Born in 1810, he cooked his was through the Paris July Days in 1830; he oversaw the building of Londona s most modern kitchen at the Reform Club, where he ran the kitchen from 1837--1850; he designed a model soup--kitchen which he took to Ireland, at the Lord Lieutenanta s request, during the 1847 famine; he opened Londona s first Parisian--type restaurant in conjunction with the Great Exhibition in 1851; and in 1855, he went to the Crimea to take over the running of the kitchens in Florence Nightingalea s hospital at Scutari. When he died in 1858, Soyer was helping Miss Nightingale reform British army catering.
Reviews / Votes
"...If you are unacquainted with Soyer and his works, it is worth reading this book..." (Sunday Telegraph, 23rd May 04) "... the many recipes she includes (some of which she gamely tries out) are consistently fascinating.." (Daily Telegraph, 22nd May 04) "...a biography of great interest and readability ... He emerges from this book as a figure of great talent, energy and humour..." (The Independent, 11/6/04) "...amusingly dished up over seven courses in Ruth Branona s lush The Peoplea s Chef: Alexis Soyer, A Life in Seven Courses, makes for such an interesting read." (The Times, 26/6/04) "...(Brandon) shows an infectious pleasure in her subject...Soyer emerges as a fascinating man..well--designed book..." (History Today, August 04) "... Soyera s huge, almost Balzacian personality..shines through Brandona s book..." (Spectator, September 04) "!a lovely book and a wonderful introduction to Soyer's own Culinary Campaign..." (Bulletin of the Association for the study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East, Autumn 2004)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chichester
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Illustrations , ports.
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
536 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-470-86991-8 (9780470869918)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
02/2005
1st Edition
Wiley
€11.15
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Ruth Brandon is a historian, biographer and novelist, who uses biography to look at particular topics through individual lives. Her books have ranged from detective stories to non fiction but all explore the reasons why people think and act in the way that they do at a particular moment. Her previous books include Singer and the Sewing Machine: a Capitalist Romance, The Dollar Princesses, The Spiritualists, The New Women and the Old Men, The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini, Surreal Lives, Tickling the Dragon, The Uncertainty Principle and Automobile. Prior to finding her natural medium in books, Ruth worked as a television and radio producer with the BBC and subsequently as a freelance journalist. She was educated at Girton College, Cambridge.
Content
List of Illustrations. Acknowledgements. The Menu. 1: The Soup. 2: The Fish. 3: The Hors d'Oeuvres. 4: Releve: Mutton Cutlets Reform. 5: Entree Chaude: Famine Soup. 6: Roast: Quail a la Symposium. 7: Entremets: Turkish Delights. 8: Coffee. Soyer Bibliography. Index.