I love my Le Creuset dish – and I’m not alone

If you’re trying to determine someone’s class and the accent is hard to place, you could do worse than check the brand of their pans. Le Creuset has been a staple of upper-middle class British kitchens for years – the sort of Eurocentric brand that contains just a hint of francophile exoticism whilst conjuring up the British comfort food of old: casseroles, stews and soups. And, if Instagram is anything to go by, Millennials are also cottoning onto the appeal. With the rise of #cottagecore and the boom in home cooking that came about over lockdown, Le Creuset doesn’t seem to be disappearing any time soon.

While to own a Le Creuset is to now open yourself up to bourgeois ridicule, there is no need to feel abashed, for serious foodies have been espousing the brand’s culinary credentials since 1925. Their Dutch ovens—or as the French term them, “cocottes”—are a triumph of engineering.