The Adventurous Chef: Alexis Soyer

By Ann Arnold and Ann Arnold

Book Overview

In 1837, when Alexis Soyer was just twenty-five years old, he became head chef at the exclusive Reform Club in London on the condition that he be allowed to participate in the design of the kitchen. The result was a showplace filled with Soyer's clever inventions, such as the drainer and the multi-egg poacher, and it became the most talked about kitchen in all of Europe. Soyer quickly established himself as a star, but for all his flamboyance he was practical and large-hearted, cooking forthe starving populace as well as the aristocracy, opening soup kitchens during the Irish potato famine, and teaching the army how to feed itself in the Crimean War. Filled with biographical detail and lively illustrations, The Adventurous Chef tells the story of a remarkable man who was determined to revolutionize the culinary world and who remains one of the greatest cooks of the nineteenth century.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374316651
• ISBN13: 9780374316655
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 12.6" x 0.4" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

A Classic in the Making...

My son and I loved this book. For people who want something more thanthe bland products of children's book publishing in the CorporateAge---*this is it*. It's a leap into history (London of themid-nineteenth century, the Crimean War, the Irish potatofamine---even a glimpse of Florence Nightingale...) through one of thegreat kitchens of all time: that of the Reform Club in London. There'sa sumptuous two-page spread of this amazing kitchen, which was full ofSoyer's ideas and inventions, and was something of a tourist attractionin its time. The illustrations are irresistible in beautifullydetailed and luminous watercolors. And the landscapes---scenes ofLondon, of Balaclava harbor---and period costumes are just asgorgeously depicted as the spectacular feasts and banquets! A *musthave* for anyone who loves children's picture books...