The Modern Housewife or Ménagère: Comprising Nearly One Thousand Receipts for the Economic and Judicious Preparation of Every Meal of the Day ... - British and Irish History, 19th Century) - Softcover

Soyer, Alexis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1108063322 ISBN 13: 9781108063326

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2013

Synopsis

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 London's Reform Club, he modernised its kitchens, installing refrigerators and gas cookers. They became something of a showpiece, even opening for tours. In contrast, Soyer also 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. This work, first published in 1849, was aimed at the middle classes. Conceived as a dialogue between two housewives, it contains hundreds of recipes and tips, giving modern readers a rich insight into household management of the time. Also reissued in this series are Soyer's Gastronomic Regenerator (1846) and Culinary Campaign (1857).

About this title

Book Description

Alexis Soyer (1810-58) was perhaps the first celebrity chef. A flamboyant, larger-than-life figure, he nonetheless took his profession very seriously. This work, first published in 1849, conceived as a dialogue between two housewives, offers rich insights into household management of the time. It contains hundreds of recipes and tips.

About the Author

Soyer was a talented, dashing, flamboyant, French egocentric whose gastronomic genius was the rage and envy of mid-nineteenth-century England. He served as cook to various French and English notables between 1821 and 1837. Among them was Prince Polignac of the French Foreign Office, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquis of Waterford, and William Lloyd of Aston Hall, Oswestry. He was widely known for his triumphant tenure as master chef of the London Reform Club, a post he accepted in 1837. The day of Queen Victoria's coronation, June 28, 1838, he executed one of the greatest culinary extravaganzas of all time: a breakfast for two thousand people at Gwydyr House, where the club was temporarily housed. His banquet de luxe for 150 guests for Ibraham Pasha on July 3, 1846, has also become a culinary legend.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1108063322
• ISBN 13: 9781108063326
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 456