The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-01 00:00:00

HALF AN HOUR WITH M. SOYER

We announced last week that the chef de cuisine,
the Nap-deon of the kitchen, the hero in ten tho-
s oal nsei!s, the conqueror in stews innumerable,
who has stood amidst blazing fires, that would have
ira-Led the heartiest of stalwart generals; and achieved
triumphs even at Spithead ; he who has roasted an
English Bull, given those of Ireland a turn, singed s
Scottish sheep's head, and sported with Welch.
rahhits, the conquorer o'er all "the ills that flesh is
heir to," and the subduer to our palates of all the
creatures of the deep, would visit Southampton on
Tuesday last —a day to be recorded in the calendar
of forgetful time. On that eventful day the culinary
Swift showed to a host of delighted gourmands that
Ldliputia was not an imaginary creation, for he pro-
duced in the matter-of-fact ware-rooms of Messrs.
Kenisten and Snalders the veritable magic stove end
apparatus, which has been the fancy of
childhood and the dreams of hungry years. 'l' be
entre of the Gulliver of cooks had been proceeded
by a Eats:all of posting-bills, and his levee was
erawdedly attended during the afternoon of Tuesday,
and the morning of Wednesday last. To those who
have nut had the pleasure of an audience with the
celebrate d prqfesseur, , we may mention that he is al-
most as fine a fellow as the portrait in his great work,
has the dress and manners or a French gentleman, full
of :mess:Lae, and untiring in his endeavours to please
his audience. Par example—he complimented the
two countries very ingeniously—the reason why the
French w rre superior cooks to those of England was
in the fact that the meat was of such a superior
quality to that in France that it was delicious, how-
ever plsinly dressed, while in France the tough and
dry meat there required all the refinements of art
to make it attractive and digestible. The chef then
proceeded to the cooking by his mimic batterie
de cuisine: -We described this elegant apparatus
last week, but M. Soyer is pleasant from his account
of the difficulties he had to encounter in producing
it ; he was ten months before he achieved his blow-
pipe in the interior. The rapidity and neatness of
the cookery is astonishing,. the CEufs au Mirior were
produced in less than a minute, a dish of four cut-
lets and three kidneys was served in three minutes.
The ozmazone is entirely preserved, and the surface
of a beautiful colour, the chef calling it" carbonised," a
term to which he attaches a different meaning from our-
selves. The company tasted, of course, and the flavour,
aided by M. Soyer's sauce, was delicious l While the
cookery was proceeding, the chef told the company that
he had come from Manchester on purpose to redeem his
promise to revisit Southampton, and must tear himself
away next day ; then described the great dinners he
had dressed, and the honours he had received;
the warm reception be had received when he cooked
upon the Exeter stage ; the lessons he had had the
:honour of giving to the Duchess of Sutherland, the
Countess of Wilton, Lady Ellesmere, Lady Carlisle,
and a host of dazzling names—his great condition
being that they must consent to take up the salt with
their finger and thumb, and throw it on the meat—
without which it was impossible to be accurate. The
chef told us that 18,000 of his " Modern Housewife "
had been sold during the last twelve months. Good
cookery, he demonstrated, was economical and health
ful--and his stove enabled them to substitute hot for
cold meat at home and abroad. On the moors, in
the field., in boating or fishing, in the batchelor's
chamber, or ladies' travelling carriage, here was a
modern tripod that would become more celebrated
than all those of the ancients. Mr. J. Clark, a pro-
minent advocate cf the Temperance principle, ex-
pressed his approval of it, because the professeur
burnt the spirits, instead of drinking them—so far
would spirits of wine, rum, brandy, and gin be in
future valuable. The cookery was continued for the
gratification of fresh parties, and to oblige one gentle-
man who could not leave his carriage, the chef went
down and cooked an omelette on the seat. We left
ourselves highly gratified with half an hour with M.
Soyer.—Hampshire Advertiser.