The Chef at War

by Alexis Soyer

The flamboyant Frenchman Alexis Soyer was the most renowned chef in Victorian England. This is his colourful account of his time at the front in the Crimean War, where he joined British troops in order to improve the quality of the food they were eating.

Divulging the secrets of preparing stew for 1000 soldiers, sharing sweetmeats with a Turkish Pacha, and teaching a Highland regiment to cook with his pioneering gas-fuelled 'field stove' that would be used by armies up until the Second World War, Soyer gives a vividly enjoyable lesson in making a little go a long way.

This edition is part of the Great Food series designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Genres: Food, History, Cookbooks, Victorian, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food History

114 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Alexis Benoît Soyer was a French chef who became the most celebrated cook in Victorian England. He also tried to alleviate suffering of the Irish poor in the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), and contributed a penny for the relief of the poor for every copy sold of his pamphlet The Poor Man's Regenerator (1847). He worked to improve the food provided to British soldiers in the Crimean War. A variant of the field stove he invented at that time, known as the "Soyer stove", remained in use with the British army until 1982

Reviews

[Ape · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a proper little corner of food history, and certainly one of the better excerpt books in this series, for me anyway. At the end of the book there are recipes - although honestly as they're mostly meat and mostly aimed at feeding soldiers, they don't appeal to me. But the bulk is Soyer's detailed account of how he ended up away from London and in the Crimea war showing off his invention, the field stove, which turned out to be a culinary godsend for the armed forces. In the telling, he certainly bigs up his invention, but you've got to admire the fact that he wasn't interested in making a killing through patents and so forth of his invention, and actually went personally out to the Crimea to show the army, as they were fighting, just what his little field stoves could do. He starts off at the hospitals, and as well as showing off the field stove, also sorts out the culinary waste they are making, and sorts out the food they are providing to the patients. Then he's off out into the field. It certainly makes you think - it's easy to think that the war is just about generals, soliders and guns, which certainly play a massive part of course. But like any organisation, there are a lot of cogs at play, some so far in the background you may not even consider they might be there. But how well the cogs work affect the entire machine.

Incidentally, this was the final book in this 20 strong Penguin Food Collection I had left to read! I think it's the first of their series I've managed to get all of the way through.

[AngryGreyCat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part of the Penguin Books Great Food Series, that I have been working my way through. Alexis Soyer has been named the first Celebrity Chef. Indeed, reading biographical information about him, seems to indicate that he was more interested in being well known and well respected upon royalty and the important people in society than in making money. In this book, Mr. Soyer talks about his experiences in the Crimean War. He volunteered to work in the hosiptals and soldier’s camps to improve their diet and thus their overall health and recovery. He discusses meeting and working with Ms. Nightingale at this time. The book includes recipes and descriptions and pictures of his camp stove, an indoor, outdoor fuel efficient stove he designed, which he did not patent because he did not want people to think he was making money off of his work in the war. Really interesting and lead me to read a great deal more biographical information on this chef. Great read for anyone interested in food history.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the few authors/books in this series of whom I'd never heard. Clever guy, during the Crimean war he revolutionized cooking at hospitals and in the field, designing a new stove that vastly reduced the amount of fuel required. (I remember 4000% less fuel, but would have to go back to the book to check this.) There are recipes for feeding armies of people too.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read and very good. Love reading about war from different angles, this one being a French chef teaching the British Army how to cook for 100s with less wood and actual taste during the Crimean War. And it's got recipes (receipts). Get your salt pork and 99 friends and start boiling!

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting micro-history. A brief look at the field stove the Soyer invented for the battlefield and how he designed kitchens and recipes for large groups of soldiers.

[Lenka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Few interesting little details about Crimean war now and then...and lots of recipes with meat for bunch of people. Meh.