Alexis Soyer - more than just a celebrity chef

What a Renaissance Man Chef! -- humanitarian (Irish Famine and later he literally shortened his life by going to Crimea to help organize feeding the UK troops during the Crimean War), designer of cooking apparatus (camp stove for army, Reform Club kitchen, soup kitchen), cookbook author, promoter, writer... oh yes, and a chef. And, as seen in the image, a tad flamboyant.

Alexis Soyer (1810-1858) is one of four 19th century celebrity chefs of London in a talk on December 28. He shows up in most of the group images from his books, so... play 'Where's Waldo?' with him; click on images to enlarge.

REFORM CLUB

From 1837 to 1850 Soyer was the chef of the Reform Club in London. He designed the kitchen, with many innovations which attracted visitors. The great variety of apparatus was all made by Benham's, their first major contract that went beyond ironmongering. In 1922 one of their roasting ranges was still being used.
Honestly I have done so much research on his apparatus over the years that I thought I had written some posts on his Reform Club kitchen equipment. I was wrong.

SOUP KITCHEN, DUBLIN, DURING IRISH FAMINE, 1847

More details and images in blog post HERE

CRIMEAN WAR STEAMERS MADE INTO A FLOUR MILL AND BAKERY

The Bruiser ground wheat, using the steam for power, to make 24,000 pounds of flour per day. The other ship, the Abundance, had four huge ovens to make 6000 3lb loaves per day. He wrote Soyer’s Culinary Campaign 1857 about his experiences.
More details and images in blog post HERE


ARMY BARRACK COOKING APPARATUS and obit 1858

More details and images in blog post HERE


SOYER'S NEW FIELD STOVE

Soyer stove, 1953 version, National Army Museum UK

FINE DINING
Although he made a name for himself cooking for the wealthy and titled (1846 image) -

SOYER'S MAGIC STOVE
He also thought of those less fortunate, such as his cookbooks Soyer’s Charitable Cookery 1847, The Poor Man's Regenerator 1848, and A Shilling Cookery Book for the People 1855. and this tabletop Magic Stove

Cooking on the Magic Stove in the Acropolis at Athens 1857

SOYER PROMOTING

AND NOW... FOR YOUR FESTIVE DINNER... A TURKEY BY SOYER

UPCOMING TALKS

De 15 Wed 7-8:30 The Architecture of Dining: A Brief History. Rick Ellis. Institute of Classical Architecture & Art - Louisiana Chapter HERE

De 28 Tue 5:30-7 The Rise of the Celebrity Chef in 19th Century London. Carl Raymond. Famed chefs: Marie-Antione Careme, Auguste Escoffier, Alexis Soyer, Charles Elme Francatelli. New York Adventure Club. Tape for one week $10 HERE

Jan 12 Wed 7 Tapping into the Past: Tavern Life in Early Connecticut. Taylor McClure. Rufus Porter Museum of Art and Ingenuity $10 HERE

Fe 17 Thu 10:30 The Restaurant: A History. Steven Moore. The English Manner. £26.46 – £30.77 HERE

IMAGES

The Gastronomic Regenerator: A Simplified and Entirely New System of Cookery. London: 1846 most of the images
Illustrated London News. April 17, 1847. Soup Kitchen
Illustrated London News Aug 14, 1858. Army barrack & obit
Soyer’s Culinary Campaign 1857. Crimean and army equip

BLOG POSTS about the celebrity chefs in upcoming talk --

Alexis Soyer (1810-1858) and recipes HERE

Charles Elme Francatelli (1805–1876): He became a character in the TV series "Victoria" HERE, his Bombs HERE, Liebig dinner HERE

Marie-Antione Careme (1784-1833): Nesselrode Pudding HERE, Assorted recipes, mentioned. HERE. Have to write more on him, someday.

Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935). Haven't written at all about this one. A bit too recent and nothing unusual (to me), yet, to drive me to spend time researching him.

CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

©2021 Patricia Bixler Reber
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