Alexis Soyer

Alexis Soyer is described as the most famous chef in Victorian England. He wrote many recipe books and even invented his own range of products for example his ‘magic stove’ which was a portable table top stove. But to many he was also ‘The people’s chef’ as he tried to reform cooking for the poor by writing recipe books for example Soyer’s Shilling Cookery for the People and he offered his culinary services in the Crimean war and during the Irish potato famine in 1847. His recipe book Soyer’s Shilling Cookery for the People is a great example of practical recipes where he shares lots of culinary advice and everyday recipes that people with very little could benefit from. It is written in an epistolary form between two ‘ladies of leisure’: Eloise and Hortense and the tone of the recipe book is friendly and conversational. The purpose of this recipe book is educating the poor on ‘making the most’ of the food they have been provided.  In the introductory letters Eloise states the ‘happy and simple style’ of the book and the fact that only cheap food items are mentioned allows it to be accessible for all and the ‘numerous’ recipes (473 in total) ranging from soups, pies, salads and cakes will be a ‘great blessing’ to many and thus will ‘form part of their daily diet’. 

 

The chapter General ignorance of the poor in cooking begins with ox cheeks which contain a ‘large amount of nourishment’ and Soyer through the voice of Hortense criticises the poor for they ‘completely spoiled’ this item of food. This chapter is particularly humorous due to Hortense’s earnest desire to help the poor lady but also her lack understanding of the poor’s way of life.  Hortense visits an old lady and she asks her a few questions on how she cooks the ox cheeks. ‘But my dear woman how long do you cook it?’ ‘Sometimes as long as an hour… and boiling till the water will not stand it any longer’ , ‘What do you do with the water?’ ‘Faith there is no water left only black muck at the bottom of the pot, which I throw away’.  Therefore, due to the ‘black muck’ we immediately know that the old lady’s method is incorrect and she must be enlightened.  Hortense breaks from  this conversation and writes to Eloise: ‘Therefore I am always of the same opinion, dearest Eloise as regards  our long talked of scheme of opening a national school to teach the poor how to cook their food’. There is clearly a sense of superiority over the poor’s cooking and Soyer wants to teach them to stop butchering this delicacy! She differentiates between ‘their food’ and describes the old lady as ‘so ignorant’ and so needs to be taught how to ‘properly’ cook an ox cheek. Despite not having enough money to buy another ox cheek (which shows the depth of her poverty) Hortense provides one and also gives the old lady sixpence for salt to clean the pot and for coal. The method Soyer gives is very precise and easy to follow. Hortense states “I then produced the ox cheek and put it into the pot with four quarts of cold water, four teaspoonful of salt, and some leaves of celery…’ At the end of three hours I returned.’ This shows the ease of her method or really Soyer’s! Then when serving she says ‘in a large basin – put some crusts of bread’ and ‘poured the liquid from the pot onto it’. So even after three hours of slow cooking she is left with a considerable amount stock rather than the ‘black muck’ the old lady was left with after just one hour of cooking.

This way is shown to be very organised, structured, and simple and makes a homely meal of ox cheeks! Hortense is even able to ‘cut the cheek easily with a very bad knife, it being so tender’ and serves ‘the soup out into cups with a beer jug, having nothing better’. So despite poor kitchen utensils this dish can still be successful whilst also showing her resourcefulness. The old lady finds it ‘very good’ and decides she will ‘show her neighbours how to do it’.  This actually reminded me of the proverb ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’. So as the old lady is taught the necessary skills she and others can benefit from it.  There is a student-teacher relationship which is particularly clear when she says ‘I will do them as well as you, now I have seen you do it’ and also shows the old lady’s eagerness to learn. However, it’s amusing that the old lady buys a bottle of ‘blue ruin’ (gin) with the rest of the sixpence Hortense gave her and as a token of her gratitude offers a drop of the substance to Hortense. It is a ‘strange smell’ to Hortense and it is composed of vitriol which shows it was adulterated to make it cheaper. Hortense blames the ‘emancipated looks’ of the poor on this substance and most concerningly omits gin from the rest of the recipes! This perhaps shows that it is easy to teach recipes as they are meant to be aspirational but harder to change your way of life.

The old lady is given several more recipes but she and others are unable to read it, which shows their desire to follow these recipes but sadly due to illiteracy it stops being a useful resource. So one obstacle made clear is that despite being affordable, widespread illiteracy in Victorian England could have meant this recipe book wasn’t very successful with the poor. Hortense visits one day and when realising that the old lady and her neighbours are unable to read the recipes she ‘begged the others stop, and hear the receipts read which they accordingly did, afterwards giving several copies away’.  So she quite desperately pleads for the council to hear her recipes so that they understand them, which seems to be the effective way.

One of the lessons she gives in this chapter is a rice dish with mixed vegetables. She is very detailed in her instructions and very clear for example the vegetables ‘should all be cut into dice and not peeled’  and be ‘well cleaned’ with the exception of the onion. Alternate ingredients are  also suggested to use if one ingredient isn’t available for example instead of rice, half a pint of split peas or barley can be used too, showing how easily adaptable it is. Helpful advice is also given such as how to know when the meal is ready.

Another chapter is the Three- legged iron pot which was a popular cooking pot for the poor in Victorian England. It was very heavy so very little coal was needed to heat something and it would retain heat to slow cook food. ‘It also had health benefits, especially for children, because of the iron that was transferred from the pot’. Interestingly Soyer describes the three legged iron pot as a ‘mighty monarch’ and suggests it will be everlasting as it has withstood time, ‘war, famine, epidemic, revolutions, which have ‘shaken foundations of mighty empires’ but not a ‘wrinkle’ has appeared on ‘his noble brow’.  So this humble item of cookware seems to be something powerful, almighty, and almost supernatural! It’s safe to say Soyer was a big fan of the three -legged iron pot! It does however seem quite melodramatic as he continues ‘he is posterity himself’, ‘no throne ever has been, or will be, stronger than his’.  It is described in masculine terms and there is anticipation as to what it is that Soyer is praising so highly and then he tells us that it is no other than the three- legged pot. The purpose of this pot according to Soyer was ‘to entertain’, ‘comfort’ and ‘feed’ people and ‘make them happy even when nature has almost refused’. It is therefore associated with the home and warmth and of course happy times and is a source of protection. One of the recipes mentioned that can be cooked in the three- legged iron pot is salt beef which is a combination of meat, split peas or rice and plenty of vegetables for example turnip tops, brocoli-sprouts and green kale. In fact Soyer advices for ‘every part of salted beef may be boiled thus, using about four ounces of vegetables to every pound of meat’. There is a good balance of vegetables and meat both in terms of cost and diet and turns some humble ingredients into something nourishing and filling.