Alexis Soyer was born in France in 1810. As a young man he worked in the kitchen of the Duke of Cambridge in London and later became a chef at a London men’s club. He became passionate about helping the poor who were suffering from the famine in Ireland, and he opened kitchens to feed them at a reduced cost. Soyer continued his social activism for affordable food with works such as Soyer’s Charitable Cookery, A Shilling Cookery for the People, Soyer’s Culinary Campaign, and Instructions for Military Hospitals. He also was the inventor of several cooking stoves, kitchen utensils, and relishes and sauces. Soyer died in London in 1858.
