Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Le Creuset Companion

My first Le Creuset purchase involved a long period of deliberation in the bloomingdales home department, during one of their home sales. Never having been able to afford them before, the array of colorful, enameled, cast iron casseroles always seemed like a distant dream. For a kid in culinary school, going to bloomies closely resembled looking through the window of a candy store when you were 5 years old - an uncontrollable, mouthwatering desire, but so out of reach; no matter how much begging one went through.

Never knowing before that a sale at Bloomingdales could slash prices of designer goods to an affordable cost, I was faced with the possibility that owning my own Le Creuset oven could actually be reality. The pot in question was a small 2 qt, cherry red french oven at just under $100, about 40% off the original price. At the time, I was just starting to invest in small appliances, and had previously splurged on a red cuisineart blender/food processor combo to match my red kitchenaid mixer, and so, I thought to myself - this Le Creuset french oven in red would be the perfect addition to my new luxury collection of cooking tools.




I made the purchase on my American Express Clear card, declining an additional 15% discount to sign up for the Bloomingdale's card (this I eventually signed up during a large shopping expedition after I had exited the poor student arena).

I was so happy. My prized little red pot was used for everything from cooking ramen to making soups, sauces, small braises etc. I even kept the box that the pot came in, not being able to bear throwing it away. As my cooking became more sophisticated, my little pot also matured with me; handling expensive ingredients like foie gras, truffles, bone marrow, and the best wines. We had such a fine time together, experimenting with new ingredients, keeping familiar food warm, and it became a very special part of my culinary adventures (life in some translations).

As my culinary repertoire increased, so did the size of my parties, and eventually, I was no longer able to use my favorite red pot for most of my cooking. Having also grown into a larger income, I was able to supplement my cookware collection with larger Le Creuset pots; the next one being a 9 qt Cobalt French Oven, seconds, from TJ Maxx. There they were, side by side, quite a sight; a little red pot, and it's big blue brother.

(A note about this blue pot, I almost burned a house down with this one, while attempting to do a mass reduction of lobster stock, and conveniently leaving the house. The pot did actually burn to irreparable damage, however, a friend rescued it from the garbage and is still currently attempting to refurbish it. It's been about 3 years since that sad fate)

I eventually reached a stage in life where I had the luxury of being able to choose the Le Creuset colors that I wanted to expand my collection with, rather than be restricted to only those that had the largest discounts. When making the decision to pick a color, I had very much wanted to stick with the original red - how lovely it would be to have a collection of Le Creuset ovens in bright red!

However, in honor of my first red pot, I chose to single it out by keeping the rest of the pots cobalt blue. Never any seconds either; but always on sale in some way or another; mostly from the bloomingdales home sale section.

(If you were curious about the red appliances that I originally wanted my pot to match with; they failed miserably and I eventually splurged on commercial quality blenders and food processors in a stylish black. The red KitchenAid still works marvelously though)

My current collection (all cobalt) includes: two 2.75 Qt round french ovens, one 5 Qt oval french oven, one 7.25 Qt round french oven, one 9.5 Qt oval french oven, one 8 Qt stock pot, one 12 Qt stock pot, and of course, the original red 2 Qt round french oven. I also received a red whistling kettle as a gift, making it 9 pieces in total.



My pot and I have moved several times together - into small kitchens, even smaller ones, a huge one, and a medium kitchen. Through it all, it's always been able to find it's place in the forefront of all the other cookware, a little flash of red in the sea of blue.

These days, I use my little red pot for what has been the most glorious and honorable cuisine in my entire life - baby food; where it cooks up everything from petit peas, to brown rice and barley. While I relish being at the pinnacle of my culinary career, whenever my gaze falls upon the little red one, it reminds me of my humble beginnings, both as a chef, and as a person.

They say that sharing a meal is the best way to get to know another. Every once in a while, this is what my red pot and I do - over some korean ramen topped with an egg, indulging in those memories of the more unassuming times.


- It makes no sense because iPad spellcheck is dense

Location:Middlefield Rd,Palo Alto,United States