Alexis Soyer

Alexis Soyer (1810–1858) was a French chef who became the most famous cook in Victorian England. Born near Meaux, he worked in Paris kitchens until the revolution of 1830 drove him to London, where from 1837 he was chef of the Reform Club and designed its celebrated kitchens. He ran soup kitchens in Dublin during the Irish famine, invented a portable field stove and went at his own expense to the Crimea in 1855 to reorganize army cooking alongside Florence Nightingale. His books include The Gastronomic Regenerator, The Modern Housewife, A Shilling Cookery for the People and The Pantropheon, a history of food in the ancient world.