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. First published in 1938, this biography by Helen Soutar Morris (1909-95) is based on François Volant and James Warren's anecdotal account of 1859 (also reissued in this series), and it faithfully conveys the adulation that Soyer engendered in his lifetime.

Portrait of a Chef: The Life of Alexis Soyer, Sometime Chef to the Reform Club (Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century)

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Morris, Helen Soutar

Cooking Education & Reference

Cambridge University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Morris, Helen Soutar. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Morris, Helen Soutar

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Morris, Helen Soutar. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Portrait of a Chef: The Life of Alexis Soyer, Sometime Chef to the Reform Club (Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century)