Creuset is the French word for cauldron. The aptly named cookware company Le Creuset was invented in 1925, the merging of two industrial talents: Armand Desaegher, specialist in casting, and Octave Aubecq, specialist in enamelling. They made their first cocotte (covered pot) and introduced it to market that year, hued bright orange to resemble the colour of molten cast iron. That Flame design and shade became iconic, and it remains the most popular one in Le Creuset’s ever-expanding universe of kitchen aids and cookware.
A new, wholly dedicated store has opened in Vancouver on the northwest corner of Granville at 14th, and it features extensive colour options as well as all the latest in the company’s catalogue, including elegant knives, espresso cups and saucers, and even a madeleine pan. The stainless steel line, launched in 2014, is here, as is its latest colour line, a range of pink hues called Bonbon. Tea pots, cups, corkscrews, all manner of pans and pots make this a kind of wonderland destination for home cooks.
Beginning in 1998, the company rolled out a series of new designs that took various cooking methods, and needs, from different regions of the world. You can have a risotto pot, a Sukiyaki cocotte, a Karahi dish, a Tatin pot. There is even a Heritage line, offering shapes and sizes from Le Creuset’s archives, come back to practical life. The original foundry, in Fresnoy-le-Grand in Northern France, still produces all of the company’s cast iron products.
You can find pretty much anything you need at Le Creuset, and have a lot of fun choosing shapes and colours. Just don’t be surprised when you leave with much more than you planned to buy.
Taste our dining section.
