Alexis Soyer's Frontispiece and Contents
Welcome to FabulousFusionFood's Alexis Soyer Recipes and Modern Redaction Recipes Pages — This page gives you the Frontispiece and Full Contents from Shilling Cookery for the People's 1855 volume, Shilling Cookery for the People. Here you will be presented with the original frontispiece is as close a representation to the original as possible. Also included here is the full table of contents, with links through to original recipes and their modern redactions (where available). This is the first time that Eliza Acton's 'Shilling Cookery for the People' has been made available in its entirety on the internet. Enjoy...
The text presented here is based on that from the 1854 First Edition of Alexis Soyer's cookbook, with additions and amendments to separate out alternate version of recipes so that they can be linked cleanly via HTML.
The text presented here is based on that from the 1854 First Edition of Alexis Soyer's cookbook, with additions and amendments to separate out alternate version of recipes so that they can be linked cleanly via HTML.
Alexis Soyer's Frontispiece and Preface from A Shilling Cookery for the People
A First Thousand. London: GEO. ROUTLEDGE & CO., WARNE FARRINGDON STREET. NEW YORK: 18 BEEKMAN STREET. 1854 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, ETC. ETC. ETC. With the highest consideration, I have the honour to be, Your Lordship's most humble and obedient servant, ALEXIS SOYER. While actively employed, under the authority of government, in a mission to Ireland, in the year of the famine, 1847, it struck me that my services would be more useful to the million than confining them, as I had hitherto done, to the wealthy few. I immediately set to work, but soon found out my error, that I was merely acquainted with the manners and ways of living of the above two classes of society, for whom I had previously catered. Perceiving that it would be impossible to cure a disease without first arriving at its cause and origin, I found that the only course I had to pursue was to visit personally the abodes, and learn the manners of those to whom I was about to address myself, and thereby get acquainted with their wants. My readers will easily perceive that, whilst semi-buried in my fashionable culinary sanctorum at the Reform Club, surrounded by the élite of society, who daily honoured me with their visits in that lounge of good cheer, I could not gain, through the stone walls of that massive edifice, the slightest knowledge of Cottage life. Determined to carry out my long thought of project, I cheerfully bade adieu to my wealthy employers, leaving them in a most thriving condition, regretting only my fair visitors; and, like a joyful pilgrim of the olden time, I set forth on my journey, visiting on my route every kind of philanthropic and other useful institution, but more especially the domains of that industrial class, the backbone of every free country—the People,—to whom for the present I bid farewell, leaving them in the hands of ma chère Hortense, who will relate to them, with her usual affability, the result of my visits through the United Kingdom.
IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS. Secondly, to obviate the reading of two or three receipts to be able to execute one, I have made each receipt in itself as complete as possible, as regards seasoning and proportion, and the few references I unavoidably make will, after a little practice, become familiar to my readers. Many of the receipts may appear to you rather lengthy, but I want to draw your attention to the fact, that they are more than receipts—indeed, I may call them plain lessons, some containing a number of receipts in one. In some cookery books many receipts are explained in few lines, which at first sight gives to the thing the appearance of simplicity; but when acted on by the uninitiated are found totally impracticable. By my plan my readers may read and prepare the contents of two or three lines at a time, so that when they get at the end of a lesson, their dish will be found well seasoned and properly cooked. More than a year has now elapsed since I wrote to you, with a promise that I would send you such receipts as should be of use to the artisan, mechanic, and cottager. The time has, however, passed so quickly, that I was not aware of its hasty flight, until I took up the last edition of our "Housewife." But still, dearest, I must say I have not lost any time ; for you will find that my letters, which have conveyed my receipts from time to time, have been dated from almost every county in the United Kingdom. In the course of my peregrinations, I have made a point of visiting the cottages and abodes of the industrious classes generally, and have also closely examined the peculiarities and manners which distinguish each county, as well as the different kinds of labour; and I have viewed with pleasure the exertions made by philanthropic individuals to improve the morals of the labouring class, and render their dwellings more comfortable. But still I have found a great want of knowledge in that one object which produces almost as much comfort as all the rest put together, viz., the means of making the most of that food which the great Architect of the Heavens has so bountifully spread before us on the face of the globe. Those who visit these humble abodes to inculcate the divine precepts of the Saviour of mankind, do but half the great work, unless they at the same time show how those things which the Almighty has created as food for man can be employed towards his nourishment. In some of my letters, my dear friend, I think I have sent you a description of some scenes I witnessed in the course of my rambles, especially in Ireland, resulting from a want of knowledge, all of which bears a moral; and what a high feeling of delight and satisfaction it will be to us, should we find that the result of our labour is crowned with success, in ameliorating the conditions of these classes; for believe me, I was right when I stated that the morals of a people greatly depend on their food; and wherever the home of an individual, in whatever class of society he may move, is made comfortable and happy, the more moral and religious will that person be. Dearest Hortense, I highly approve of your plan; it is time that it was put into action. I am fearful that our friends, the public, to whom we promised, some four years since, a work like the present, will have become impatient; but they will be gainers by the delay, as by your visits to the various parts of the United Kingdom, you have obtained that insight into the domestic arrangements of the class of persons for whom it is intended, that could not be obtained by any other means. Your new plan of writing a series of receipts peculiarly adapted for such humble utensils as the gridiron, frying-pan, iron pan, and black pot, is at once original, and cannot fail of being very effective; for no matter how humble or poor the dwelling, one of those faithful servants are sure to be found at its post; and I do not doubt but that, under your tuition, they will prove of greater value to the public at large than they hitherto have been. If a person, after purchasing this work for a shilling, had to lay out five or six more in kitchen utensils before he could cook by it, it would be a great drawback on its worth; but by your happy and simple style, you have so successfully avoided all complicated matters in its pages, that nothing will be requisite but the aforesaid simple kitchen implements to bring it into action. I also perceive, with pleasure, that you have not omitted the slightest article of cheap food of any description, which, with the numerous receipts you give for dressing the same, must prove a great blessing to many, and only require to be introduced to the notice of the public to form a part of their daily diet. It is to be regretted that men of science do not interest themselves more than they do on a subject of such vast magnitude as this; for I feel confident that the food of a country might be increased at least one-third, if the culinary science was properly developed, instead of its being slighted as it is now. I myself think it worthy the attention of a peer of the realm; for, as you justly observe, the morals of a country greatly depend on the production and preparation of its food, and most heartily do I re-echo your sentiments. My Dearest Friend, You are right. Cookery, in our era, has been thought beneath the attention of men of science; and yet, was there ever a political, commercial, or even a domestic event, but what always has been, and always will be, celebrated either by a banquet or a dinner? And pray, who is answerable for the comfort and conviviality of the guests of such festivals but the cook, who has been intrusted with such important duties? The selection of good and proper beverages will, of course, greatly assist the cook's endeavours; but these may be purchased months, or even years, before you require them, which would of course give you an ample chance of remedying any error; while a dinner is the creation of a day and the success of a moment. Therefore you will perceive that nothing more disposes the heart to amicable feeling and friendly transactions, than a dinner well conceived and artistically prepared. In ancient times, a cook, especially if a man, was looked upon as a distinguished member of society; while now he is, in the opinion of almost every one, a mere menial. Still there are a few who highly appreciate the knowledge he possesses, especially in the higher circles, who have classified cookery as a high art. For example, let us see what one of the greatest chemists of the day (Liebig) says on this imperishable subject, in his valuable work, "The Chemistry of Food," that "Among all the arts known to man there is none which enjoys a juster appreciation, and the products of which are more universally admired, than that which is concerned in the preparation of our food. Led by an instinct, which has almost reached the dignity of conscious knowledge, as the unerring guide, and by the sense of taste, which protects the health, the experienced cook, with respect to the choice, the admixture, and the preparation of food, has made acquisitions surpassing all that chemical and physiological science have done in regard to the doctrine or theory of nutrition. In soup and meat sauces, he imitates the gastric juice; and by the cheese which closes the banquet, he assists the action of the dissolved epithelium of the stomach. The table, supplied with dishes, appears to the observer like a machine, the parts of which are harmoniously fitted together, and so arranged that, when brought into action, a maximum of effect may be obtained by the theory of them. The able culinary artist accompanies the sanguineous matter with those which promote the process of solution and sanguification, in due proportion; he avoids all kinds of unnecessary stimuli, such as do not act in restoring the equilibrium; and he provides the due nourishment for the child or the weak old man, as well as for the strong of both sexes." Such is the high eulogium paid to culinary science by that learned man; and perhaps there is no one more able of appreciating its value than him. Therefore I do not yet despair of seeing the day when that science, like others, will have its qualified professors. I now close our labours for the present, and wait with anxiety the first proof, which on receiving I will immediately correct and forward to you. |