Alexis Soyer with Lindsay Middleton

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.

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The Scottish Food History Podcast

Find Lindsay on social media: Insta/Threads lindsaymiddleton_ and Bluesky @drlindsaymiddleton.bsky.social

Things mentioned in today’s episode

The Reform Club

Charles Barry

The Gastronomic Regenerator

The Modern Housewife

William Kitchiner

Neil’s Country Life County Foods series

Podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode

The Philosophy of Puddings with Neil Buttery, Peter Gilchrist & Lindsay Middleton

Tinned Food with Lindsay Middleton

Invalid Cookery with Lindsay Middleton

A is for Apple: B is for Banana, Banting & Berries

Neil’s blogs:

‘British Food: a History’

‘Neil Cooks Grigson’

Neil’s books:

Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper

A Dark History of Sugar

Knead to Know: a History of Baking

The Philosophy of Puddings

Don’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

Mentioned in this episode:

The British Food History podcast is currently sponored by Netherton Foundry

Season 10 of The British Food History Podcast is sponsored by Netherton Foundry, producers of top-quality, British-made cookery equipment. Nestled in rural South Shropshire, Netherton Foundry is a family-run business, headed by husband and wife team Neil and Sue Currie, which takes inspiration from the local iron masters of the 18th and 19th centuries to craft traditional cookware from iron, oak and copper using non-toxic materials. Their cookware is built to last, whether it be their famous prospector pans (of which I am a proud owner), crumpet rings or their impressive range of outdoor cookware. Netherton Foundry ships to several countries outside of the UK, including the USA and Canada. Visit netherton-foundry.co.uk to find out more about their wonderful products – approved not just by me but by folk such as Tom Parker-Bowles, Diana Henry and Nigella Lawson.

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