The Modern Housewife Or Menagere: Comprising Nearly One Thousand Receipts For The Economic And Judicious Preparation Of Every Meal Of The Day (1851) - Hardcover

Alexis Soyer (1810-58) was perhaps the first celebrity chef. A flamboyant, larger-than-life figure, he nonetheless took his profession very seriously. This work, first published in 1849, conceived as a dialogue between two housewives, offers rich insights into household management of the time. It contains hundreds of recipes and tips.

Soyer was a talented, dashing, flamboyant, French egocentric whose gastronomic genius was the rage and envy of mid-nineteenth-century England. He served as cook to various French and English notables between 1821 and 1837. Among them was Prince Polignac of the French Foreign Office, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquis of Waterford, and William Lloyd of Aston Hall, Oswestry. He was widely known for his triumphant tenure as master chef of the London Reform Club, a post he accepted in 1837. The day of Queen Victoria's coronation, June 28, 1838, he executed one of the greatest culinary extravaganzas of all time: a breakfast for two thousand people at Gwydyr House, where the club was temporarily housed. His banquet de luxe for 150 guests for Ibraham Pasha on July 3, 1846, has also become a culinary legend.