OP: Portrait of a Chef
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Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1980. Paperback. Near Fine.
The French-born chef Alexis Soyer (1810–1858) was a phenomenon in Victorian England where he settled in his teens. He cooked for czars, for princes, and, indeed, for Queen Victoria herself. He was also the virtuoso cook of London’s famed Reform Club, which made him a celebrity at the highest levels of society.
Despite a reputation for vanity and eccentricity, and his affiliation with the upper class, there was a somewhat astonishing second side to Soyer. He was deeply intrigued with and touched by the challenge of cooking for the masses and became renowned for his work feeding the British army during the Crimean War and for establishing a soup kitchen during the Great (Irish) Famine. The British continued to use his patented travel stove throughout both world wars, and his cookbooks have sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
Portrait of a Chef, originally published in 1938, is one of many biographies documenting the life of this most fascinating figure.
Our copy is a 1980 paperback issued by Oxford University Press. Near Fine.