Alexis Soyer

“ Lord M.—The greatest wit lacks eloquence, if he neglect too much the nature of his repast.
S.—Which proves, my Lord, that our most agreeable sensations depend, not solely on nature, but on the care we take of ourselves.
Lord M.—Yes, the more sensitive the soul, the greater the power of degustation. The degustative sensations operate with as great activity on the palate as the charm of melody acts on the ear; for example, man in a state of madness feels the want of eating, but the enchanting pleasure of degustation is as much denied to him as that of reason. ”

“ The appearance and bustle of the kitchen, which was quite new to me, put me more in mind of a public market than what it really was; every man-cook was dressed in the Oriental fashion, all looking very clean. The copper vessels which they use are daily tinned—which fact I learnt from the Chef,—and shone like so much silver. The process of the Turkish cookery, though slow, I much approve of, as the succulence and aroma of every kind of food are retained, and it is far superior to our system, everything being cooked or stewed on the top of red-hot ashes laid on slabs of stone or marble. ”

“ A kitchen without a female cook—it is like a flowerless garden, a waveless sea, a sailless ship. A kitchen with a male cook—is a monster which natural history rejects, and good feeling abhors. The rights of women are scarcely best vindicated by him who usurps the most precious of them. There will be time to complain of their absence from the scene, when, by a proper self-ostracism, you leave free for them the stage which it becomes them to occupy. These are knotty matters, M. Soyer, for digestion. ”

“ The view during the ascent is transcendently beautiful and refreshing—the sight of the harbour beneath filled with ships, the chain of rocky mountains, distant view of the Guards’ camp, the village of Kadikoi, its Greek church, the Zouave camp, and the traffic of thousands below, busily running to and fro, formed a naval and military tableau which well repaid us for our trouble. On reaching the verge of the hill facing the grand tower, which proudly bore the British flagstaff, Miss Nightingale and myself made an involuntary halt to admire this splendid view. ”

“ Greece and Italy invented new drinks for them, which had a well-merited vogue, notwithstanding the discredit into which they have fallen for many centuries past. Our modern beauties would smile with an air of incredulity if we were to extol asparagus wine, winter savory wine, wild marjoram wine, parsley seed wine, or those made from mint, rue, pennyroyal, and wild thyme; and yet these liquors were the delectable drinks of the most distinguished women of ancient Rome, of those women who could never find in the culinary productions of the entire universe anything sufficiently delicate or rare. ”

“ Now, believe me, I have always prided myself, whether having to provide for a ceremonious party or dining by ourselves, to have everything properly done and served, that, if any friends should come in by accident or on business, they were generally well pleased with our humble hospitality, and that without extravagance, as my husband is well convinced; for when we dine with any acquaintance of ours he is very eager to persuade them to adopt my system of management; for though he is no great judge of what is called the highest style of cookery, yet he does not like to live badly at any time ”

“ M. Soyer tells us that nothing better disposes the human mind to amiable feelings than a dinner, bien conçu et artistement préparé. How deeply grateful, then, should our countrymen feel who make dining the great business of life, and with whom a dinner forms the grand rallying point for every striking demonstration of pleasure, or business, or friendship, or charity, to one who in the proud humility of his unrivalled genius is content to rank a good cook only on the same footing as a wise counsellor! ”

“ Language cannot describe the unbridled luxury of this ignominious emperor. His gilded house, his ivory ceilings, his murrhine vases, the nets of gold and scarlet with which he fished, the incalculable profusion of his repasts—everything connected with Nero betrayed a species of pompous monomania, leading to excesses so immeasurable and abominable that in these days they excite doubt or incredulity.
The entire world detested the monster. Galba and the Roman army revolted against him, and the pusillanimous Cæsar fled bare-footed, and wrapped in a sordid robe. ”

“ Leaving the Marmora Monument on the left and the Nightingale Cross on the right, I merely cast a coup-d’œil to the tumble-down Sardinian hospital and fragment of camp, and took the road to Kamara. Not a soul did I meet for three miles while crossing the rustic road, cutting immediately through the peak of these lofty mountains, with their base in the Euxine on one side, and on the other, through deep ravines, solemnly reposing on Balaklava’s glorious plain. No, nothing but a poor horse, who had been ineffectually shot, was grazing near a pool of blood. ”

“ You have often made the remark, that the time always appears short whilst we are at table; this is, no doubt, from the animated conversation which is kept up, for that is the real motive of meeting together, to enjoy the conversation of one another, to gain and impart information, and amuse ourselves with the wit and talent of those around us, and not for the sake of eating and drinking; yet without the assistance of both of these, the most sparkling wit would be as heavy as a bad soufflé, and the brightest talent as dull as my looking-glass on a foggy day. ”

“ I have never during the last six years suffered any bird to be basted in my kitchen with the exception of rubbing a piece of butter over the breast of poultry or game as soon as the skin becomes set; any kind of game or poultry is done when you perceive a great smoke arising from it, and if not taken up immediately you lose the flavour and the bird its appearance, for instead of going to table nice and plump it will present a mean and shrivelled object, loudly bespeaking the cook’s inattention, unless it has been kept in a screen or hot closet, by the party having kept the dinner waiting. ”

“ Pliny, Apicius, Petronius, Athenæus,—and you, ingenuous and faithful chroniclers of the gastronomic follies of the people-king,—were resuscitated in all your glory! Others instructed the universe in philosophy, eloquence, and history,—you taught man how the ancients dined; and, thanks to your lessons, our fathers began to comprehend that, since the table is the great scene of life where bonds of friendship are formed and cemented, banqueting is indispensable to the prosperity of nations. ”

“ At seven the general and all returned; and it was, as he said, a false alarm.
My Zouave returned at eight, loaded with provisions, which he told me he had borrowed of some fellows he had found fast asleep. We arrived on board the Baraguay d’Hilliers about ten, faint with fatigue and hunger, having had no breakfast.
Such was camp-life at head-quarters. It was like swimming between life and death. No one seemed to apprehend the least danger, while a successful sortie on the part of the enemy would have placed every one’s life in the greatest peril. So much for the unprofitable business of war! ”

“ BRAISING is the next and most important part of the art of cooking, and, like the sauté, belongs entirely to the French school, from whom it takes its name, braise being the remains of wood burnt in the oven, or live charcoal: and as this plan of cookery requires the action of the fire under and over the braising-pan, which is air-tight, in order that the aromatic flavor arising from its contents may be imbibed by the meat or poultry, and give it that succulence so much esteemed by epicures. ”

“ Nevertheless, gastronomists by profession, who so generously devoted their fortunes to the service of the culinary art, abandoned the whole animal to their slaves, and only reserved for themselves the most tender shoots of the horns. These were for a long time boiled, then cut into very small pieces, and this strange dish, seasoned with a mixture of pepper, cummin, savory, rue, parsley, bay leaves, fat, and pine nuts, sprinkled with vinegar, and fried, passed for an exquisite and dainty treat, worthy of the most flattering praises. ”

“ Balaklava was a perfect garden; Kamiesch a well populated desert.
The evening of the 7th of September was a memorable one. Each mind was animated; men of the most pacific disposition were transformed into lions or tigers, furiously seeking to devour their prey.
Amidst the most terrible discharges of cannon, the order for the general attack was announced to the troops for the following day. The news acted like an electric spark, and inspired all hearts. Each soldier appeared to breathe more freely; hope, the enchantress, filled the hearts of the brave with enthusiasm ”

“ During a succession of revolutions, extending over a space of nearly sixty years, constitutions have been abandoned as soon as adopted; kings and nobles have been murdered; but La Cuisine has ever been held inviolate, and chefs deserving of the name have not ceased to be venerated. And what is the result?—that in France, where the raw material is, with the single exception of veal, perhaps, inferior to ours, a dinner can be produced worthy of Lucullus; in England, save under the superintendence of French artists, such a feat is plainly impossible. ”

“ An intelligent slave failed not, under such circumstances, to present his languishing mistress with a cup of wormwood wine, before she quitted her couch. Anon, the livid paleness of her complexion brightened into the rosy hue of health, the dimmed eye resumed its wonted lustre, and that very evening the brilliant matron could seat herself fearlessly at a fresh banquet. That precious wine, that fashionable tonic, which modern sobriety—be it said to our praise—has rendered almost useless, sold well in Rome under the reigns of the Emperors. ”

“ A vaporous golden tint seemed to envelope the world-famed city of Constantinople—its mosques, forests of minarets, Golden Horn, and European and Asiatic shores, with the Oriental atmosphere so peculiar to the Bosphorus. Nature seemed to be in its most sublime humour; heaven, earth, and ocean had that day agreed to be in love with humanity. ”

“ Who is not aware that the genius of the Greeks improved the culinary art, and that their cooks were famous in history? What of the Syracusans, whose dainty and curious ideas passed as a proverb; and of the Athenians, who were so passionately fond of the pleasures of the table; or of Naples, Tarentum, and Sybaris, so celebrated for their good cheer? The Romans surpassed even these refinements and sumptuous repasts: theirs is the honour of the pontiffs’ feasts, the excesses of Capreæ, the profusions of Vitellius, of Galba, Nero, and Caligula. ”

“ The economy of the kitchen is only a counterpart, in its simplicity or complication, its rudeness or luxury, of the economy of the state. The subjects of patriarchs and despots may eat uncooked horses with relish and nourishment. The denizens of a political system whose every motion is regulated by an intricate machinery, in which the teeth of all the myriad wheels in motion are indented with inextricable multiplicity of confusion into each other, perish under any nurture which is not as intricate, complex, artificial, and confused. ”

“ The gourmand’s stomach alone acts; he swallows all that is put before him, never praises the culinary artist, and seldom complains of the quality of the food, but frequently of the want of quantity.
Therefore, gourmets, epicures, high-livers, and wealthy merchants, who are gifted with a fine intellect, never allow yourselves to be called a gourmand if you are really deserving of the title of gourmet—and this title I confidently bestow upon my honourable friend Colonel Halliwell, who was not only a gourmet, but also a very good amateur cook. ”

“ The dinner—being of each day, each season, each century—is not only an hereditary fashion, but also the soul of sociability; read history, and you will perceive that, in all times, amongst all people, the good which has been done—and sometimes the evil—was always preceded or followed by a banquet.
S.—Nothing is more true, my Lord. Of all the pleasures which are bestowed upon us in this world, that of the table is the only one which, when the reins of the car of life become slack, parts from us with regret, and often, as a faithful friend, leaves us but at the brink of the tomb ”

“ By their exertions the barriers of freedom and civilization were opened to all, and the autocrat Czar was compelled to submit. Those who but a few days before had been enemies were now friends. In fact, the war had ceased, and peace, that mother of sociability, offered her delights freely to all. Care seemed banished from every brow, excepting the sincere regret devoted to the memory of those brave men who had so nobly died for the glory of their country. In addition to the theatres, which had amused the camp throughout the winter, madrigal and glee clubs were instituted. ”

“ The love of fish became a real mania: turbots excited a furore of admiration—the muræna Helena was worshipped. Hortensius, the orator, actually wept over the death of the one he had fed with his own hands; the daughter of Drusus ornamented hers with golden rings; each had a name, and would come with speed when it heard the voice of the master, whose happiness depended on his fish. ”