Marcel Boulestin
Encyclopedia
Xavier Marcel Boulestin (1878 – 20 September 1943) was a French chef, restaurateur
, and the author of cookery books that popularised French cuisine
in the English-speaking world.
Born in Périgord
in France, Boulestin tried a number of occupations before finding his role as a restaurateur. He worked as secretary and ghostwriter to the author "Willy" (Henry Gauthier-Villars
) in Paris, and then moved to London, where he made his home and career from 1906 onward. There, he opened an interior design shop, which failed to make enough money. He wrote extensively, and was commissioned to write a simple French cookery book for English readers. It was a huge success, and thereafter his career was in cooking.
The Restaurant Boulestin, known as the most expensive in London, opened in 1927. Its fame, and the long series of books and articles that Boulestin wrote, made him a celebrity. His cuisine was wide-ranging, embracing not only the French classics but also dishes familiar to British cooks.
Among those influenced by Boulestin was the English cookery expert Elizabeth David
, who praised Boulestin in her writings, and adopted many of his precepts.
, Périgord
, France, Boulestin was raised by his mother and his maternal grandmother in Poitiers. His parents lived apart, and the young Boulestin spent a month each summer with his father in Saint-Aulaye
. He was educated in Poitiers, and later in Bordeaux, where he was nominally a law student, but in practice was a full-time concert-goer and member of the musical scene of the city. He wrote "Letter from Bordeaux" for Courrier Musical, a musical review, and published his first book, a dialogue, Le Pacte, for which the humorous writer Willy (Henry Gauthier-Villars
), husband of the novelist Colette
, wrote a preface. Despite Willy's endorsement, the book was not a success.
After compulsory military service in 1899, Boulestin moved to Paris and worked for Willy as a secretary and as one of the several ghostwriter
s he employed for his sensational and well-selling books, among them Curnonsky
and Colette. Willy's stories and novels often included characters taken from his friends and collaborators. His Claudine and Minne series and other novels sketched Colette's youth, peppered with characters taken from other spheres, like the clearly homosexual "Hicksem" and "Blackspot", both taken from Boulestin's personality. Willy's novel En Bombe (1904) portrayed his life with Boulestin and his other secretaries, illustrated with 100 posed photos showing Willy himself as Maugis, Marcel Boulestin as Blackspot, another secretary Armory as Kernadeck, Colette as Marcelle, Marcelle as Jeannine, and Colette's dog Toby-Chien. Also, in 1905, Boulestin's French translation of The Happy Hypocrite
by Max Beerbohm
was published in the Mercure de France, with a caricature of Boulestin by Beerbohm. Boulestin had to convince a sceptical editor that Beerbohm really existed and was not an invention of Boulestin's. He also acted on occasion, alongside Colette, in several plays written by Willy.
wrote that he considered it highly improper for a Frenchman to renounce his country). At first, in the words of the biographer Brigid Allen, he immersed himself "in the music-halls and theatres, and the follies and ostentatious luxury of the idle rich". Among his friends were Robert Ross
, Lord Alfred Douglas
, and Reginald Turner. At first he earned his living by writing humorous "Letters from London" for several magazines, among them Akademos, a sumptuous monthly published by Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen
. For Akademos, Boulestin also wrote a serial novel with a homosexual theme, Les Fréquentations de Maurice, under the pseudonym "Sidney Place". The book had a succès de scandale in France, but was thought too racy for publication in Britain. In the same year he collaborated with Francis Toye
, on a lightweight novel, The Swing of the Pendulum. Some of his feuilleton
s from London were published as Tableaux de Londres in a limited edition (1912). He also wrote for Academy, a review edited by Lord Alfred Douglas; translated plays; and wrote articles that appeared in a variety of publications, including Vanity Fair
, Gil Blas
, and Mercure Musicale. Boulestin also served as secretary to Cosmo Gordon-Lennox (also known as Cosmo Stuart), a theatrical producer, grandson of the Duke of Richmond and husband of the actress Marie Tempest
.
In November 1911 Boulestin opened Decoration Moderne, an interior-design shop at 15 Elizabeth Street in the Belgravia
district of London. "My stock was small, but modern and first-rate. I had made no concessions. The silks, the velvets, the linens, the knick-knacks and the wallpapers came from Martine, André Groult, and Iribe. I had bought stuffs at Darmstadt, Munich and Vienna; Berlin and Florence supplied me with certain papers, Paris with new and amusing vases, pottery, porcelain, glass, and a few fine pieces of Negro art". Among his clients was the future interior decorator Syrie Maugham and socialites such as Lady Curzon and Mrs. Hwfa Williams. His firm also attracted the Countess of Drogheda and Princess Lichnowsky, who had been instrumental in the success of the Omega Workshops
.
During the First World War Boulestin served in the French army as an interpreter to the British Expeditionary Force. Among his incidental tasks was designing the costumes for the famous army concert party, the "Rouges et Noirs". He sometimes amused himself at the British headquarters by teaching British soldiers how to cook.
After the war he returned to London and reopened his design business at 102 George Street, Portman Square. It did not prosper. "Perhaps it was a little too advanced—also during those years many shops had started what they called modern decoration; several of the Society women who used to be my customers had themselves become decorators; there was the beginning of the slump, and in addition to all these adverse conditions there were practically no stocks of any kind. Sometimes when there was an important order it could not be executed, the material being out of print, or printed on a cheaper stuff."
During this period Boulestin edited a book of essays and stories, Keepsake, which was illustrated by his friend Jean-Emile Laboureur. His income, however, continued to dry up, and he resorted to making extra money through a variety of means, including giving French lessons, making handmade candle-shades, and working as a wine adviser for private individuals. Around 1923, however, Boulestin was contracted to write a French-cookery book by the director of the British publishing house Heinemann; called Simple French Cooking for English Homes, it was published in June 1923 "and was an immediate success with both the Press and the public". In England at that time it was regarded as bad manners to talk about food, but to Boulestin, "Food which is worth eating is worth discussing". This appealed to the public and such were the sales of his book that it was reprinted six times between 1923 and 1930.
in London. The restaurant was the work of the architect Clough Williams-Ellis
and the interior decorator Allan Walton. Its chef was M. Bigorre, a Frenchman who had previously worked for Restaurant Paillard in Paris. In 1927 Boulestin moved to Southampton Street, Covent Garden
, opening the eponymous Restaurant Boulestin on the site of the old Sherry's Restaurant. The new location featured circus-theme murals by Laboureur and the French artist Marie Laurencin
and fabrics by Raoul Dufy
. Cecil Beaton
called it "the prettiest restaurant in London". The Restaurants of London (1928) described the space—decorated by André Groult
—as:
The culinary reputation of the establishment was high; the writer Edward Laroque Tinker declared in The New York Times that at Boulestin's "one gets the most perfect and récherché dinner to be found in all London". Boulestin's standards were so exacting that despite being reputedly the most expensive restaurant in London, the Restaurant Boulestin did not make a profit, and he was obliged to supplement his earnings by prolific writing of articles and books. Some of these were written in collaboration with Arthur Henry "Robin" Adair, a British food writer who in 1923 became Boulestin's companion, literary partner and translator.
Among those influenced by Boulestin's writing was Elizabeth David, who after his death emerged as the leading writer in Britain on the subject of food. In her books, she quoted with approval from several of Boulestin's works, including this, originally from What Shall We Have Today?: "The chief thing to remember is that all these soups … must be made with plain water. When made with the addition of stock they lose all character and cease to be what they were intended to be. The fresh pleasant taste is lost owing to the addition of meat stock, and the value of the soup from an economical point of view is also lost." David herself made the same point in many of her writings. She also drew attention to the wide range of Boulestin's culinary tastes. He was not an unswerving advocate of classic French recipes, and wrote with enthusiasm about curries, Basque pipérade
, and Irish stew.
Boulestin was the first television chef, broadcasting for the BBC
in television's earliest experimental days in 1937–1939. In his programmes he demonstrated not only French dishes such as Escalope de Veau Choisy, Crêpes d'été, and Rouget Marseillaise, but also deceptively simple food including salads, lamb kebabs, spring vegetables, and picnics.
and then nearer Paris. Boulestin moved to Paris to be close to him, and died there after a brief illness, aged 65.
Adair was released at the end of the war and returned to England, becoming the cookery correspondent of the British magazine Harper's Bazaar. He died in 1956. Boulestin's restaurant continued under various managements until 1994.
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
, and the author of cookery books that popularised French cuisine
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...
in the English-speaking world.
Born in Périgord
Périgord
The Périgord is a former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne département, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine région. It is divided into four regions, the Périgord Noir , the Périgord Blanc , the Périgord Vert and the Périgord Pourpre...
in France, Boulestin tried a number of occupations before finding his role as a restaurateur. He worked as secretary and ghostwriter to the author "Willy" (Henry Gauthier-Villars
Henry Gauthier-Villars
Henry Gauthier-Villars or Willy, his nom-de-plume, was a French fin-de-siecle writer and music critic who is today mostly known as the mentor and bisexual first husband of Colette...
) in Paris, and then moved to London, where he made his home and career from 1906 onward. There, he opened an interior design shop, which failed to make enough money. He wrote extensively, and was commissioned to write a simple French cookery book for English readers. It was a huge success, and thereafter his career was in cooking.
The Restaurant Boulestin, known as the most expensive in London, opened in 1927. Its fame, and the long series of books and articles that Boulestin wrote, made him a celebrity. His cuisine was wide-ranging, embracing not only the French classics but also dishes familiar to British cooks.
Among those influenced by Boulestin was the English cookery expert Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David CBE was a British cookery writer who, in the mid-20th century, strongly influenced the revitalisation of the art of home cookery with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes.Born to an upper-class family, David rebelled against social norms of the...
, who praised Boulestin in her writings, and adopted many of his precepts.
Early years
Born in PoitiersPoitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
, Périgord
Périgord
The Périgord is a former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne département, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine région. It is divided into four regions, the Périgord Noir , the Périgord Blanc , the Périgord Vert and the Périgord Pourpre...
, France, Boulestin was raised by his mother and his maternal grandmother in Poitiers. His parents lived apart, and the young Boulestin spent a month each summer with his father in Saint-Aulaye
Saint-Aulaye
Saint-Aulaye is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
. He was educated in Poitiers, and later in Bordeaux, where he was nominally a law student, but in practice was a full-time concert-goer and member of the musical scene of the city. He wrote "Letter from Bordeaux" for Courrier Musical, a musical review, and published his first book, a dialogue, Le Pacte, for which the humorous writer Willy (Henry Gauthier-Villars
Henry Gauthier-Villars
Henry Gauthier-Villars or Willy, his nom-de-plume, was a French fin-de-siecle writer and music critic who is today mostly known as the mentor and bisexual first husband of Colette...
), husband of the novelist Colette
Colette
Colette was the surname of the French novelist and performer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette . She is best known for her novel Gigi, upon which Lerner and Loewe based the stage and film musical comedies of the same title.-Early life and marriage:Colette was born to retired military officer Jules-Joseph...
, wrote a preface. Despite Willy's endorsement, the book was not a success.
After compulsory military service in 1899, Boulestin moved to Paris and worked for Willy as a secretary and as one of the several ghostwriter
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
s he employed for his sensational and well-selling books, among them Curnonsky
Curnonsky
Maurice Edmond Sailland , better known by his pen-name Curnonsky , and dubbed the Prince of Gastronomy, was the most celebrated writer on gastronomy in France in the 20th century. He wrote or ghost-wrote over 65 books and enormous numbers of newspaper columns...
and Colette. Willy's stories and novels often included characters taken from his friends and collaborators. His Claudine and Minne series and other novels sketched Colette's youth, peppered with characters taken from other spheres, like the clearly homosexual "Hicksem" and "Blackspot", both taken from Boulestin's personality. Willy's novel En Bombe (1904) portrayed his life with Boulestin and his other secretaries, illustrated with 100 posed photos showing Willy himself as Maugis, Marcel Boulestin as Blackspot, another secretary Armory as Kernadeck, Colette as Marcelle, Marcelle as Jeannine, and Colette's dog Toby-Chien. Also, in 1905, Boulestin's French translation of The Happy Hypocrite
The Happy Hypocrite
The Happy Hypocrite: A Fairy Tale for Tired Men is a short story with moral implications, written by Max Beerbohm in 1897. His earliest short story, The Happy Hypocrite first appeared in The Yellow Book in 1897...
by Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
was published in the Mercure de France, with a caricature of Boulestin by Beerbohm. Boulestin had to convince a sceptical editor that Beerbohm really existed and was not an invention of Boulestin's. He also acted on occasion, alongside Colette, in several plays written by Willy.
London and interior design
Boulestin was an Anglophile from an early age, even in culinary matters. He attempted to convince his family of the virtues of mint sauce with mutton, bought mince pies and marmalade in Paris, and took Colette to afternoon tea. He moved to London in 1906, and thereafter made his home and career there, though he never considered taking British citizenship (Elizabeth DavidElizabeth David
Elizabeth David CBE was a British cookery writer who, in the mid-20th century, strongly influenced the revitalisation of the art of home cookery with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes.Born to an upper-class family, David rebelled against social norms of the...
wrote that he considered it highly improper for a Frenchman to renounce his country). At first, in the words of the biographer Brigid Allen, he immersed himself "in the music-halls and theatres, and the follies and ostentatious luxury of the idle rich". Among his friends were Robert Ross
Robert Ross
Robert Ross may refer to:*Robert Ross, 5th Lord Ross , Scottish nobleman*Robert Ross, 9th Lord Ross , Scottish nobleman*Robert Ross , British botanist...
, Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas , nicknamed Bosie, was a British author, poet and translator, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde...
, and Reginald Turner. At first he earned his living by writing humorous "Letters from London" for several magazines, among them Akademos, a sumptuous monthly published by Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen
Jacques d'Adelsward-Fersen
Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen was a novelist and poet of the early 20th century; his modern fame is based on a mid-century fictionalised biography by Roger Peyrefitte....
. For Akademos, Boulestin also wrote a serial novel with a homosexual theme, Les Fréquentations de Maurice, under the pseudonym "Sidney Place". The book had a succès de scandale in France, but was thought too racy for publication in Britain. In the same year he collaborated with Francis Toye
Francis Toye
John Francis Toye was an English music critic, teacher, writer and educational administrator. After early efforts as a composer and novelist, and service in naval intelligence in World War I, he became music critic of The Morning Post from 1925 to 1937, which he combined with teaching singing and...
, on a lightweight novel, The Swing of the Pendulum. Some of his feuilleton
Feuilleton
Feuilleton was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle of the latest fashions, and epigrams, charades and other literary trifles...
s from London were published as Tableaux de Londres in a limited edition (1912). He also wrote for Academy, a review edited by Lord Alfred Douglas; translated plays; and wrote articles that appeared in a variety of publications, including Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (British magazine)
The second Vanity Fair was a British weekly magazine published from 1868 to 1914.-History:Subtitled "A Weekly Show of Political, Social and Literary Wares", it was founded by Thomas Gibson Bowles, who aimed to expose the contemporary vanities of Victorian society. The first issue appeared in London...
, Gil Blas
Gil Blas (periodical)
Gil Blas was a Parisian literary periodical founded by Augustin-Alexandre Dumont in November 1879. It was in publication until 1914...
, and Mercure Musicale. Boulestin also served as secretary to Cosmo Gordon-Lennox (also known as Cosmo Stuart), a theatrical producer, grandson of the Duke of Richmond and husband of the actress Marie Tempest
Marie Tempest
Dame Marie Tempest DBE was an English singer and actress known as the "queen of her profession".Tempest became the most famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, she became a leading comic actress and toured widely in North America and elsewhere...
.
In November 1911 Boulestin opened Decoration Moderne, an interior-design shop at 15 Elizabeth Street in the Belgravia
Belgravia
Belgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Noted for its immensely expensive residential properties, it is one of the wealthiest districts in the world...
district of London. "My stock was small, but modern and first-rate. I had made no concessions. The silks, the velvets, the linens, the knick-knacks and the wallpapers came from Martine, André Groult, and Iribe. I had bought stuffs at Darmstadt, Munich and Vienna; Berlin and Florence supplied me with certain papers, Paris with new and amusing vases, pottery, porcelain, glass, and a few fine pieces of Negro art". Among his clients was the future interior decorator Syrie Maugham and socialites such as Lady Curzon and Mrs. Hwfa Williams. His firm also attracted the Countess of Drogheda and Princess Lichnowsky, who had been instrumental in the success of the Omega Workshops
Omega Workshops
The Omega Workshops was a design enterprise founded by members of the Bloomsbury Group and established in 1913. It was located at 33 Fitzroy Square in London, and was founded with the intention of providing graphic expression to the essence of the Bloomsbury ethos...
.
During the First World War Boulestin served in the French army as an interpreter to the British Expeditionary Force. Among his incidental tasks was designing the costumes for the famous army concert party, the "Rouges et Noirs". He sometimes amused himself at the British headquarters by teaching British soldiers how to cook.
After the war he returned to London and reopened his design business at 102 George Street, Portman Square. It did not prosper. "Perhaps it was a little too advanced—also during those years many shops had started what they called modern decoration; several of the Society women who used to be my customers had themselves become decorators; there was the beginning of the slump, and in addition to all these adverse conditions there were practically no stocks of any kind. Sometimes when there was an important order it could not be executed, the material being out of print, or printed on a cheaper stuff."
During this period Boulestin edited a book of essays and stories, Keepsake, which was illustrated by his friend Jean-Emile Laboureur. His income, however, continued to dry up, and he resorted to making extra money through a variety of means, including giving French lessons, making handmade candle-shades, and working as a wine adviser for private individuals. Around 1923, however, Boulestin was contracted to write a French-cookery book by the director of the British publishing house Heinemann; called Simple French Cooking for English Homes, it was published in June 1923 "and was an immediate success with both the Press and the public". In England at that time it was regarded as bad manners to talk about food, but to Boulestin, "Food which is worth eating is worth discussing". This appealed to the public and such were the sales of his book that it was reprinted six times between 1923 and 1930.
Restaurateur and writer
In 1925, following on the popularity of his cookery books, Boulestin opened The Restaurant Français in Leicester SquareLeicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
in London. The restaurant was the work of the architect Clough Williams-Ellis
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC was an English-born Welsh architect known chiefly as creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales.-Origins, education and early career:...
and the interior decorator Allan Walton. Its chef was M. Bigorre, a Frenchman who had previously worked for Restaurant Paillard in Paris. In 1927 Boulestin moved to Southampton Street, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, opening the eponymous Restaurant Boulestin on the site of the old Sherry's Restaurant. The new location featured circus-theme murals by Laboureur and the French artist Marie Laurencin
Marie Laurencin
Marie Laurencin was a French painter and printmaker. -Biography:Laurencin was born in Paris, where she was raised by her mother and lived much of her life. At 18, she studied porcelain painting in Sèvres...
and fabrics by Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy[p] was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events...
. Cecil Beaton
Cecil Beaton
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre...
called it "the prettiest restaurant in London". The Restaurants of London (1928) described the space—decorated by André Groult
André Groult
André Groult was a French decorator and draftsman of French furniture. Much of his work can be described as art deco, with curving and organic shapes, and Groult's work has been described as compromising between tradition and modernism...
—as:
The culinary reputation of the establishment was high; the writer Edward Laroque Tinker declared in The New York Times that at Boulestin's "one gets the most perfect and récherché dinner to be found in all London". Boulestin's standards were so exacting that despite being reputedly the most expensive restaurant in London, the Restaurant Boulestin did not make a profit, and he was obliged to supplement his earnings by prolific writing of articles and books. Some of these were written in collaboration with Arthur Henry "Robin" Adair, a British food writer who in 1923 became Boulestin's companion, literary partner and translator.
Among those influenced by Boulestin's writing was Elizabeth David, who after his death emerged as the leading writer in Britain on the subject of food. In her books, she quoted with approval from several of Boulestin's works, including this, originally from What Shall We Have Today?: "The chief thing to remember is that all these soups … must be made with plain water. When made with the addition of stock they lose all character and cease to be what they were intended to be. The fresh pleasant taste is lost owing to the addition of meat stock, and the value of the soup from an economical point of view is also lost." David herself made the same point in many of her writings. She also drew attention to the wide range of Boulestin's culinary tastes. He was not an unswerving advocate of classic French recipes, and wrote with enthusiasm about curries, Basque pipérade
Pipérade
Piperade or Piperrada , from piper is a typical Basque dish prepared with onion, green peppers, and tomatoes sautéd and flavoured with red Espelette pepper. The colours coincidentally reflect the colours of the Basque flag . It may be served as a main or a side dish...
, and Irish stew.
Boulestin was the first television chef, broadcasting for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in television's earliest experimental days in 1937–1939. In his programmes he demonstrated not only French dishes such as Escalope de Veau Choisy, Crêpes d'été, and Rouget Marseillaise, but also deceptively simple food including salads, lamb kebabs, spring vegetables, and picnics.
Last years
In the summer of 1939, Boulestin and Adair were taking their customary holiday in a house that Boulestin had built in the Landes. When France was invaded by Germany, Adair was ill, and unable to escape; Boulestin remained with him. Adair was interned as an enemy alien by the Germans, and held first in BayonneBayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
and then nearer Paris. Boulestin moved to Paris to be close to him, and died there after a brief illness, aged 65.
Adair was released at the end of the war and returned to England, becoming the cookery correspondent of the British magazine Harper's Bazaar. He died in 1956. Boulestin's restaurant continued under various managements until 1994.
Books
- Le Pacte, dialogue (1899). Paris: Société libre des gens de lettres. OCLC 457113383
- Les Fréquentations de Maurice (Mouers de Londres) (1912) a serial novel written under the pseudonym Sidney Place. Paris: Dorbon-aîné. OCLC 458665120
- Tableaux de Londres (1912). Collection of Boulestin's columns. Paris: Dorbon-aîné. OCLC 35294816
- Dans les Flandres Brittaniques (1916). Wartime memoir. Paris: Dorbon-aîné. OCLC 250247842
- Aspects Sentimentaux du Front Anglais (1916). Published under the pseudonym Bertie Angle. Paris: Dorbon-aîné. OCLC 461914240
- The Atnaeum: A Collection of Atrocities Committed at the Front (1917) Wartime memoir written under the pseudonym Bertie Angle. Privately printed edition of 20 copies. London.
- New keepsake for the year 1921. Le Nouveau keepsake pour l'année 1921. (ed., 1920). London: Chelsea Book Club. OCLC 77593579
- Simple French Cooking for English Homes (1923). London: Heinemann. OCLC 3355941
- A Second Helping: or, More Dishes for English Homes (1925). London: Heinemann. OCLC 558105282
- The Conduct of the Kitchen: How to Keep a Good Table for Sixteen Shillings a Week (1925). London: Heinemann. OCLC 558105222
- Herbs, Salads, and Seasonings (with Jason Hill, 1930). London: Heinemann. OCLC 221892577
- What Shall We Have To-Day? 365 Recipes for All the Days of the Year (1931). London: Heinemann. OCLC 6765535
- Potatoes: One Hundred & One Ways of Cooking (with A. H. Adair, 1932). London: Heinemann. OCLC 17558800
- What Shall We Have to Drink? (1933). London: Heinemann. OCLC 3348186
- The Evening Standard Book of Menus (1935). London: Heinemann. OCLC 20383885
- Savouries and Hors-d'oeuvre: One Hundred & Twenty-Seven Ways of Preparing (with A. H. Adair, 1932) London: Heinemann. OCLC 14360712
- À Londres, Naguère (1930). Paris: Librarie Arthème Fayard. OCLC 9862172 (translated by A. H. Adair as Ease and Endurance in 1948)
- Eggs: One Hundred & Twenty Ways of Cooking (with A. H. Adair, 1932) London: Heinemann. OCLC 4695902
- Having Crossed the Channel (1934). London: Heinemann. OCLC 6385901
- Myself, My Two Countries ... (1936). London: Cassell. OCLC 13409111
- The Finer Cooking, or, Dishes for Parties (1937). London: Cassell. OCLC 695840591
- Paris-Londres aux environs de 1900; souvenirs inédits (1945). Paris: Librarie Arthème Fayard. OCLC 31202841