The Le Creuset casserole turns 95 in 2020. The French brand brings a little bit of history to your table, whether you’re indulging in a new cast iron dish or cooking up a family favourite in a decades-old pot.
Here’s a run-down of how the volcanic orange cookware made its way to our kitchens – and which Le Creuset dish to choose for yours.
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The World’s Love for Le Creuset Casseroles, Rekindled
The Le Creuset casserole never really went away, but a decade ago the classic French cookware brand was given a boost.
Meryl Streep and Amy Adams movie Julie & Julia told the heartwarming parallel true stories of pioneering celebrity chef Julia Child and food blogger Julie Powell.
![Julie & Julia (Giftset With Cookery Book) [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/712LwjCjdpL.__AC_SL250_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
As Julie cooks her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking (and Julia creates the book 50 years earlier) they use a lot of Le Creuset. There’s even a major plot point that hinges on a crucial casserole.
Due in no small part to the brand’s timeless designs, you can pretty much buy the exact same casserole dishes as the ones you see in the movie.
“we did vast research into what were period appropriate, and the colors: turquoise and burnt orange. And then we called Le Creuset… We were lucky. The stuff hasn’t changed since Mauviel copper was invented in the 19th century, so we were able to buy new products that were basically identical to the stuff Julia was cooking with.”
– Mark Ricker, Production Designer
So, when you add an orange or turquoise Le Creuset casserole to your cupboard it harks back directly to those early home cooks. And in fact, those shade go even farther than Julia Child’s day.
The Origins of an Orange Icon
The first Le Creuset casserole was created in 1925. Belgian casting expert Armand Desaegher and enamelling specialist Octave Aubecq joined forces after meet at the Brussels Fair in 1924. The duo set off a kitchen revolution when they opened their foundry in Fresnoy-le-Grand, in northern France.
In the style of Henry Ford’s legendary “any colour as long as it’s black” philosophy (however accurately it can be attributed to the manufacturing icon), the cast iron enamelled dishes launched in a single shade.
Le Creuset Volcanic casseroles (Flame in the US) were the first to appear in French kitchens, but it took thirty years for more colours to hit kitchens.
Creating the Cast Iron Rainbow
Once Elysées Yellow was introduced in the mid-1950s, it became a huge success. Even Marilyn Monroe owned a set of the pastel yellow cast iron Le Creuset dishes. For the curious: her ovenware sold for $25,300 in 1999, when it was last auctioned.
Hollywood was ahead of London in their kitchenware options, but not for long. Le Creuset’s move into the British market fed back to Fresnoy-le-Grand thanks to one food writer’s passion, and personal style.
In 1961, Selfridges became the French cooking brand’s first UK stockist. And it was championed by British food writer and Francophile Elizabeth David, who even wrote a pamphlet entitled Cooking with Le Creuset.
It’s said that Le Creuset took inspiration from the branding of her signature smokes. The next colour they introduced was a near-identical shade of blue to the cigarette packet. France’s cookware kings find their colour inspiration anywhere and everywhere, and they don’t mind changing with the times.
Casserole Colours Right Now
Keeping up with Pantone Colour of the Year 2020, Classic Blue? They’ve already got it covered with this 2019 update. It doesn’t get much more classic than Marseille Blue.
Elysées Yellow brought a sunny glow to post-war kitchens. Now Le Creuset’s Soleil has picked up the baton and amplified the 20th Century shade into a radiant yellow.
So it looks like bolder updates on the mid-century palette are still going strong in France, the UK and the US. And yet, there’s a whole world of home cooks out there.
Pastels are Le Creuset’s bestselling colours in Japan, and the appeal is clear to see. Chiffon pink Le Creuset casserole dishes prove that kitchenware doesn’t have to come in bold colours. There’s nothing wrong with an irresistible mix of sugary-sweet style and reliable functionality.
But some things will never change. Volcanic/Flame is a constant cooks have loved for almost a hundred years and it’s still top of the list.
And if you’re wondering why Le Creuset dishes are orange to this day, the brand’s signature colour is actually a very clever touch. The iconic orange glaze pays tribute to the manufacturing process. It was inspired by the glow of cast iron in its molten form.
That’s one vibrant mental image. And it really brings home the relationship between the manufacturing process and your kitchen. With Le Creuset, it’s all about the process.
Why Is Le Creuset So Expensive?
If the cost makes you look twice, it’s because Le Creuset is made in several meticulous stages. Your casserole’s fascinating journey begins before the raw materials even reach the foundry.
A huge percentage of the iron Le Creuset use is recycled, 50% in fact; plus 35% recycled steel from the car industry. So the content of your cast iron casserole has had a past life, and it’s intended to have a long future.
It takes hours to individually form the perfect cast iron dish – and the mould can only by used once. Those moulds are all-natural though – they’re made from sand, almost all of which is used over again. And it takes at least 15 craftsmen to create and inspect each cast iron dish, from molten metal to the final glaze.
A genuine Le Creuset cast iron casserole may be more expensive at first, but you won’t expect to replace it anytime soon. French families pass their Le Creuset ovens down through the generations. Look after your own set and the cost per use could be miniscule over the years.
Casseroles on a Budget: The Bargain Lower-Priced Range
If you dearly love the look of Le Creuset casserole dishes but you don’t want to spend so much, there’s a workaround.
You can get great Le Creuset bargains in their stoneware range. They’re made from ceramic clay so the cost is far lower than the cast iron dishes. But it all depends what you’re cooking.
Both ranges make great oven dishes but stoneware can’t be used on a hob, whereas the French company’s cast iron can. You can even use their modern cast iron products on an induction hob, according to the brand themselves.
On the other hand, your Le Creuset stoneware can be used in the microwave (an obvious no-no for metal-based cast-iron). They also go under the grill.
So it all comes down to, what are you making for dinner?