How Le Creuset forged its cast-iron reputation.
A simple idea and strong alliance elevated cast-iron cookware to a design heavyweight, writes Chris Pearson.
When Armand Desaegher, a specialist in metal casting, met Octave Aubecq, an expert in enamelling, at the Brussels Commercial Fair in 1924, an idea began to simmer.
The virtues of cooking in cast-iron pots were undisputed. A low conductor of heat, cast iron heats up slowly but, when it does, can reach high temperatures and retains that heat, distributing it evenly. Enamelling the pots would raise the purely practical to a new plane. Not only would the enamel resist staining and the leaching of flavours, but the pots would look fetching on the smart stoves making entrees into kitchens at the time. They were also presentable enough for the dining table, taking sautéeing to serving in one easy step.
A year later, Desaegher and Aubecq joined forces and opened a foundry at Fresnoy-Le-Grand in the northern French region of Picardy, a crossroads for the three essentials for cast iron: iron, sand and coke. They called their new company Le Creuset (French for crucible) and designed their first casserole dish, the Cocotte (below right, on left). It was enamelled in Volcanique, a fiery orange shade evoking molten iron. This hue and pot became the company’s signature design and remains as hot as ever.
In 1952, Le Creuset began exporting, mainly to the rest of Europe and the US, and in 1958 it commissioned Raymond Loewy, a noted Franco-American industrial designer, to create a stylish new casserole pot they called the Coquelle. With French cuisine the flavour of the time, food writers Julia Child in the US and Elizabeth David in the UK both championed Le Creuset.
So, too, did Sue Jenkins, owner of Sydney kitchenware store Accoutrement, which has been selling the brand since 1970. Jenkins’ passion for the product was fired by the 28cm Cocotte she received as a wedding present 50 years ago and still uses. “Everyone should have at least one Le Creuset pot in their kitchen,” she says.
Over the years, Le Creuset has extended its repertoire with new colours, sizes and shapes. “Customers today enjoy a rainbow of colours,” says Yoann Gosselin, managing director of Le Creuset Australia & New Zealand. “Australians have a liking for blues – Marseille Blue [on the stockpot, below right], Coastal Blue and new addition Ink are all sought-after tones.”
As well as round and oval casseroles, saucepans and skillets, the cosmopolitan range now encompasses tatin dishes, woks, paella pans, a tagine and more. Top-selling sizes and shapes? “The 26cm round casserole – priced from about $579 – has become a star,” says Gosselin.
WHAT IT MEANS TO US
Having expanded into stoneware and stainless-steel cookware, knives and silicone tools, Le Creuset has sold more than 300 million items in 40 countries. In excess of 10,000 cast-iron products are made each day at the original Fresnoy-Le-Grand foundry, all by hand and many in the classic Volcanique shade. In tandem with the more traditional profiles, the chic Loewy range has been released as limited editions in recent years. But the most famous Le Creuset item was a 12-piece set in Elysées Yellow once owned by Marilyn Monroe. It was auctioned in New York in 1999 for a sizzling US$25,300. Yes, some like it hot.