Image: Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress · Public domain
Shilling Cookery for the People
- Year
- 1854
- Era
- 19th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- English 19th C
Shilling Cookery for the People, issued by Alexis Soyer in 1854, was conceived as an affordable manual of plain cookery aimed squarely at working-class households. Drawing on Soyer's experience feeding the poor during the Irish Famine and the Crimean campaign, it offered economical recipes, practical guidance on fuel and equipment, and reached a wide audience through numerous reprints, becoming a landmark of mid-Victorian popular gastronomy.
Cooking from this book
Soyer's Cheap Soup for the Poor
Signature dishFew dishes capture the spirit of this little book more vividly than Soyer's famous cheap soup, a thrifty pottage of meat scraps, vegetables and seasonings designed to nourish a working family for pennies. Devised by the celebrated chef of the Reform Club during years of hunger and want, it became a symbol of his philanthropic mission to bring wholesome cookery within reach of every household, and it remains the emblematic creation of his shilling manual.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
