The Peoples Chef: Alexis Soyer, A Life in Seven Courses

"Alexis Soyer...paved the way for today′s cooking – he is one of my heroes." —Michel Roux "...his life story, amusingly dished up over seven courses in Ruth Brandon’s lush The People’s Chef , makes for such an interesting read." — The Times "well worth reading" — Sunday Telegraph "exhilaratingly illuminating … vivid social history… His life illuminates our history and our lives. It’s a wonderful book." —Sheila Dillon in The Victorian "Soyer’s huge, almost Balzacian personality, with all its energy, flamboyance, quick wit, generosity, sentimentality, social insecurity, kindness and sheer good humour, shines through in Brandon’s book." — Spectator During the first half of the nineteenth century Alexis Soyer was the most famous cook – and one of the most famous men – in London. A combination of chance, talent, self–promotion and social conscience took him into many of the great events of his time. He survived being slayed by a revolutionary mob in Paris by singing La Marseillaise, witnessed England’s Swing Riots, oversaw the building of London’s most modern kitchen at the Reform Club where he was chief cook, licensed sauces to Messrs Crosse and Blackwell, saved many an Irish potato famine victim with his model soup kitchen and opened London’s first restaurant, an event attended by Karl Marx. But despite such a rich and varied life Soyer would scarcely be remembered at all were it not for the selfless work he did with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea in overcoming the British Army’s near lethal indifference to food. The People’s Chef, part cookbook, part biography and part history, is worthy of its charming and highly original hero.

List of Illustrations. Acknowledgements. The Menu. 1: The Soup. 2: The Fish. 3: The Hors d’Oeuvres. 4: Relevé: Mutton Cutlets Reform. 5: Entrée Chaude: Famine Soup. 6: Roast: Quail à la Symposium. 7: Entremets: Turkish Delights. 8: Coffee. Soyer Bibliography. Index.

“… a fascinating biography and social history.” (Olive, May 2004) “Brandon’s colourful details will give the book lively appeal to a wide range of social historians” (Times Literary Supplement, 24 th September 2004) “…exhilaratingly illuminating…a wonderful book…” (The Victorian, November 04)