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Relish: The Extraordinary Life of Alexis Soyer, Victorian Celebrity Chef
Rarely has a man defined the spirit of an age as well as Alexis Soyer. A celebrity chef, bestselling author, entrepreneur, inventor, and Crimean war hero, Soyer built the world famous kitchens of London's Reform Club and filled them with such ingenious inventions as the gas stove and steam lifts. In the 1840s he established soup kitchens during the Irish potato famine—a revolutionary concept at the time—and in the following decade risked his life by traveling to the Russian peninsula to reform army catering for the troops, saving thousands of soldiers from the effects of malnutrition. But Soyer—in the spirit of his age—was also a secret womanizer, near bankrupt, and an alcoholic. Despite the fame of his lifetime, Soyer dropped completely from the public eye after his untimely death. His friend Florence Nightingale, never one to praise lightly, wrote that his passing was "a great disaster for the nation." Despite making several fortunes Soyer died penniless. His personal papers were destroyed, his funeral a hushed-up affair, and today his grave lies neglected and rotting. This is the story of one of the Victorian age’s most favored—and soon forgotten—shining stars.
342 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 27, 2019
I am an extremely enthusiastic amateur cook and a massive fan of cookery programmes with a ridiculous amount of cookery books in my collection, yet I had only barely heard of Alexis Soyer. And what a man! After reading this, I’m in no doubt that he was the first celebrity chef, and I so wish he’d been around today.
Soyer is one of those characters that I reckon you’d have loved or hated. He makes Keith Floyd look like a retiring wallflower, with his flamboyant clothes, his diamond-encrusted fingers, and his wild, exuberant life-style. He’s a man who loves food, and is incredibly in advance of his time: he advocates using seasonal produce; he abhors waste and espouses what we now call nose to tail cooking; he can cook wildly extravagant dishes that take up to three weeks to prepare, but he can also cook humbly, from scraps, leftovers and store cupboard ingredients; he loves to share his recipes; and he loves to eat. From very humble origins, he rises to the acme of the culinary scene as head chef of the Reform Club. He’s a self-serving entrepreneur, whose inventive mind never stops working, prototyping the first ready-made sauces, kitchen gadgets and stoves – more of which later. He’s an appalling business man and an atrocious judge of character and this, combined with his inability to keep his mouth shut and to push, push, push himself means he falls from grace innumerable times and fails signally to keep the fortunes he makes. He’s at times toe-curlingly snobbish, the Hyacinth Bouquet of the culinary world endlessly cultivating influential friends and shamelessly begging their endorsements and written references. Yet he is also a renowned raconteur, and his braggadocio is married with a real social conscience, a very kind heart and loyalty that is at times misplaced. I would have loved to have met him. What a tv personality he’d have been!
And as for his cooking – that no-one disputes is sublime. He transformed the culinary world from high to low end, paving the way for Mrs Beaton’s success – and her stealing of a great many of his recipes too. Soyer rushed to Dublin during the worst years of the famine to set up soup kitchens – with mixed success. Though his hear was in the right place, his recipes were frugal without providing nourishment, and his horribly condescending attitudes earned him little gratitude. But it was in the Crimean War where he had his most lasting impact. Journeying there with Florence Nightingale, he transformed first the kitchens of the many hospitals and sanatoriums, and then moved onto the field kitchens. He fed the men in their thousands, and not only that, he established the process of training and equipment that lasted until today. It was Soyer who forced the army to establish military cooks, and it was Soyer’s portable patented stoves in their various forms that saved fuel, that were smokeless, and that until the Falkland War in 1982, served the forces. Astounding! He’s still toasted once a year at a commemorative dinner in Sandhurst. There’s a silver replica trophy of one of his stoves awarded to the best military chef. And yet Soyer is very far from being a household name. Though he should be.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Surely someone out there could make a documentary or a film of it, a culinary journey – Keith Floyd would have been perfect of course and so would Anthony Bourdain, but failing those two, what about Raymond Blanc? Not that, I would love to see.
Soyer is one of those characters that I reckon you’d have loved or hated. He makes Keith Floyd look like a retiring wallflower, with his flamboyant clothes, his diamond-encrusted fingers, and his wild, exuberant life-style. He’s a man who loves food, and is incredibly in advance of his time: he advocates using seasonal produce; he abhors waste and espouses what we now call nose to tail cooking; he can cook wildly extravagant dishes that take up to three weeks to prepare, but he can also cook humbly, from scraps, leftovers and store cupboard ingredients; he loves to share his recipes; and he loves to eat. From very humble origins, he rises to the acme of the culinary scene as head chef of the Reform Club. He’s a self-serving entrepreneur, whose inventive mind never stops working, prototyping the first ready-made sauces, kitchen gadgets and stoves – more of which later. He’s an appalling business man and an atrocious judge of character and this, combined with his inability to keep his mouth shut and to push, push, push himself means he falls from grace innumerable times and fails signally to keep the fortunes he makes. He’s at times toe-curlingly snobbish, the Hyacinth Bouquet of the culinary world endlessly cultivating influential friends and shamelessly begging their endorsements and written references. Yet he is also a renowned raconteur, and his braggadocio is married with a real social conscience, a very kind heart and loyalty that is at times misplaced. I would have loved to have met him. What a tv personality he’d have been!
And as for his cooking – that no-one disputes is sublime. He transformed the culinary world from high to low end, paving the way for Mrs Beaton’s success – and her stealing of a great many of his recipes too. Soyer rushed to Dublin during the worst years of the famine to set up soup kitchens – with mixed success. Though his hear was in the right place, his recipes were frugal without providing nourishment, and his horribly condescending attitudes earned him little gratitude. But it was in the Crimean War where he had his most lasting impact. Journeying there with Florence Nightingale, he transformed first the kitchens of the many hospitals and sanatoriums, and then moved onto the field kitchens. He fed the men in their thousands, and not only that, he established the process of training and equipment that lasted until today. It was Soyer who forced the army to establish military cooks, and it was Soyer’s portable patented stoves in their various forms that saved fuel, that were smokeless, and that until the Falkland War in 1982, served the forces. Astounding! He’s still toasted once a year at a commemorative dinner in Sandhurst. There’s a silver replica trophy of one of his stoves awarded to the best military chef. And yet Soyer is very far from being a household name. Though he should be.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Surely someone out there could make a documentary or a film of it, a culinary journey – Keith Floyd would have been perfect of course and so would Anthony Bourdain, but failing those two, what about Raymond Blanc? Not that, I would love to see.
August 10, 2011
The language is too flowery and at first I thought this book was written decades ago. Not so, it is from 2005. But if you can get past the language you will discover a treasure, Alexis Soyer. In Victorian times he was the first chef to operate soup kitchens, design kitchen equipment and operate kitchens on battlefields (the Crimean War, where he was a colleague of Florence Nightingale). And he cooked for royalty as well. And, through the life of Alexis Soyer you'll also learn about French and British history. If only this had been told by Mark Kurlansky!
July 7, 2017
The first celebrity chef, developer of soup kitchens for Irish famine victims and London slum dwellers, reformer of the food service to the British Army during the Crimean War, inventor of a revolutionary campaign stove for the army, friend and associate of Florence Nightingale, author of best selling cook books, socialized with Thackeray and Dickens, became wealthy, but managed to lose it all in the end. Alcoholic, ego driven, a womanizer, Soyer was larger than life in every respect, and has largely, strangely, disappeared from history.
The book is a good overview of his life and times, and of the extravagant feasting he provided and the wretched poverty he tried to ameliorate.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
The book is a good overview of his life and times, and of the extravagant feasting he provided and the wretched poverty he tried to ameliorate.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
November 9, 2013
An intriguing story, well-written and entertaining. Dragged a little long at parts but that could just be my own personal narrative preferences coming into play.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews