I am strongly disposed to believe that the manufacture, the estab-
lishment of which I am endeavoring to promote, will be beneficial
to my country in many respects, and particularly, that it will tend
to better the lot of the laboring classes; to cause them to live better
than they now live; to give them better food and better raiment than
they now have; and to assist in driving from their minds the effects
of that pernicious and despicable cant which has long been dinning
into their ears, that hungry bellies and ragged backs are marks of the
grace of God.
And such brave words have not appeared in the thousands of
cookbooks that have gone under the bridge since. Practically all of
which are written for the Haves, in the elegant style of that famous
French chef Soyer who gave his whole culinary genius to keeping
Queen Victoria well-fattened. Contrast Cobbett's honest, human
expression with this high-sounding bunk from Soyer's Pantropheon:
21 8 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK
The Greeks and Romans — egotists, if there ever were any —
supped for themselves, and lived only to sup; our pleasures are en-
nobled by views more useful and more elevated. We often dine for the
poor, and we sometimes dance for the afflicted, the widow, and the
orphan.
Soyer*s "we" is purely rhetorical, for by it he means the Dukes
and Duchesses, Ducks and Drakes who were his patrons about a
century ago. They, not he, held charity dances and banquets where
the "quality" danced and ate "for the poor" — while Soyer and
his working class stood well outside that classy circle, content
with the Lord's Cold Potato, the io% for charity which the Lords
and Ladies dispensed to calm their consciences.
But from merely bending the knee in his Pantropheon Soyer gets
right down and grovels on the ground in another cookbook grandly
called 'The Gastronomic Regenerator. Its dedication is topped with
the royal arms of his patron. The Duke of Cambridge, consisting
of crowned lions, knight's armor, a unicorn and Dieu et mon Droit,
as well as Honi soit qui mal y pense:
To His Royal Highness
'The Duke of Cambridge
Your Royal Highness,
The gracious condescension which permits of the dedication of
this Work to your Royal Highness, adds another of the many claims
upon my devotedness and my gratitude.
I have the high honour to be
Your Royal Highness*
Most obedient and humble Servant
Alexis Soyer.
But Soyer doesn't stop there, he goes into one of those fanciful-
literary recipes which have been popular with patrons and poten-
tates since the time of Caesar, giving the following ingredients for
making "The Celestial and Terrestrial Cream of Great Britain."
" Procure, if possible, the antique Vase of the Roman Capitol . . .
(on the glittering rim of which three doves are resting in peace),
and in it deposit a Smile from the Duchess of Sutherland; then add a
Lesson from the Duchess of Northumberland ... an invitation
**WE DINE FOR THE POOR*' 2I9
from the Marchioness of Exeter ... a reception from the Duchess of
Leinster; an Autocratic Thought from the Baroness Brunow . . .
the protection of the Countess of St. Aulaire . . . the SylphHke
form of the Marchioness of Abercorn; a Soiree of the Duchess of
Beaufort; a Reverence of the Viscountess Jocelyn; and the good-will
of Lady Palmerston.
Page 123
Presented as published in 1938. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
I am strongly disposed to believe that the manufacture, the establishment of which I am endeavoring to promote, will be beneficial to my country in many respects, and particularly, that it will tend to better the lot of the laboring classes; to cause them to live better than they now live; to give them better food and better raiment than they now have; and to assist in driving from their minds the effects of that pernicious and despicable cant which has long been dinning into their ears, that hungry bellies and ragged backs are marks of the grace of God.
And such brave words have not appeared in the thousands of cookbooks that have gone under the bridge since. Practically all of which are written for the Haves, in the elegant style of that famous French chef Soyer who gave his whole culinary genius to keeping Queen Victoria well-fattened. Contrast Cobbett's honest, human expression with this high-sounding bunk from Soyer's Pantropheon:
The Greeks and Romans — egotists, if there ever were any — supped for themselves, and lived only to sup; our pleasures are ennobled by views more useful and more elevated. We often dine for the poor, and we sometimes dance for the afflicted, the widow, and the orphan.
Soyer*s "we" is purely rhetorical, for by it he means the Dukes and Duchesses, Ducks and Drakes who were his patrons about a century ago. They, not he, held charity dances and banquets where the "quality" danced and ate "for the poor" — while Soyer and his working class stood well outside that classy circle, content with the Lord's Cold Potato, the io% for charity which the Lords and Ladies dispensed to calm their consciences.
But from merely bending the knee in his Pantropheon Soyer gets right down and grovels on the ground in another cookbook grandly called 'The Gastronomic Regenerator. Its dedication is topped with the royal arms of his patron. The Duke of Cambridge, consisting of crowned lions, knight's armor, a unicorn and Dieu et mon Droit, as well as Honi soit qui mal y pense:
To His Royal Highness 'The Duke of Cambridge Your Royal Highness,
The gracious condescension which permits of the dedication of this Work to your Royal Highness, adds another of the many claims upon my devotedness and my gratitude. I have the high honour to be
Your Royal Highness* Most obedient and humble Servant
Alexis Soyer.
But Soyer doesn't stop there, he goes into one of those fanciful literary recipes which have been popular with patrons and potentates since the time of Caesar, giving the following ingredients for making "The Celestial and Terrestrial Cream of Great Britain."
" Procure, if possible, the antique Vase of the Roman Capitol . . . (on the glittering rim of which three doves are resting in peace), and in it deposit a Smile from the Duchess of Sutherland; then add a Lesson from the Duchess of Northumberland ... an invitation
**WE DINE FOR THE POOR*' 2I9
from the Marchioness of Exeter ... a reception from the Duchess of Leinster; an Autocratic Thought from the Baroness Brunow . . . the protection of the Countess of St. Aulaire . . . the Sylph-like form of the Marchioness of Abercorn; a Soiree of the Duchess of Beaufort; a Reverence of the Viscountess Jocelyn; and the good-will of Lady Palmerston.