Today I speak with food historian, podcaster and friend of the show Lindsay Middleton about arguably the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer, focusing mainly on two of his books: The Gastronomic Regenerator and The Modern Housewife.We talk about the kitchens at the Reform Club, Soyer’s literary inspirations, cookery books as entertainment and his meta approach to writing The Modern Housewife, amongst many other things.If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.The Scottish Food History PodcastFind Lindsay on social media: Insta/Threads lindsaymiddleton_ and Bluesky @drlindsaymiddleton.bsky.socialThings mentioned in today’s episodeThe Reform ClubCharles BarryThe Gastronomic RegeneratorThe Modern HousewifeWilliam KitchinerNeil’s Country Life County Foods seriesPodcast episodes pertinent to today’s episodeThe Philosophy of Puddings with Neil Buttery, Peter Gilchrist & Lindsay MiddletonTinned Food with Lindsay MiddletonInvalid Cookery with Lindsay MiddletonA is for Apple: B is for Banana, Banting & BerriesNeil’s blogs:‘British Food: a History’ ‘Neil Cooks Grigson’ Neil’s books:Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential HousekeeperA Dark History of Sugar Knead to Know: a History of BakingThe Philosophy of PuddingsDon’t forget, there will be postbag episodes in the future, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or indeed any episode, or have a question about the history of British food please email me at
[email protected], or on twitter and BlueSky @neilbuttery, or Instagram and Threads dr_neil_buttery. My DMs are open.You can also join the British Food: a History Facebook discussion page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/britishfoodhistory
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