Cousances: Difference between revisions
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A conspicuous Cousances design was a [[dutch oven]] called the ''Doufeu'' (literally "gentle fire") in which the sunken or recessed lid was kept at a reduced temperature by placing ice cubes atop and allowing the steam inside to condense. As the inside of the lid was dotted with smooth protrusions or notches, the condensed droplets sprinkled back evenly on the cooking food to baste it.<ref name=home-economics-cousances>{{citation|title=Home Economics|volume = 26|publisher=Forbes|page=27|year=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c7tOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22cousances%22|quote=An unusual buy in casserole dishes is the Doufeu, a practical design from the French cast iron cookware company, Cousances. Rather than allowing steam to escape during cooking, the indented lid of the Doufeu is filled with cold water or ice cubes before cooking. This cools down the lid so that when steam from the cooking food comes into contact with it, liquid condenses back into the casserole. Small elevations on the inside of the lid collects the droplets and ensure even sprinkling of the liquid across the food. Although primarily designed for use on the top of the cooker, the Doufeu can be used inside the oven.}}</ref><ref name=doufeu-consumer-guide>{{citation|title=The Cook's Store: How to Buy and Use Gourmet Gadgets|last=Consumer Guide|year = 1978|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYdtP7qdLvAC&q=%22cousances%22|quote=The doufeu is a pot made of enameled cast iron and designed and manufactured in France by Cousances to recreate the traditional way of cooking. But instead of hot coals, one places ice cubes in the doufeu's concave lid while the pot simmers on the stove. The ice helps steam to collect on the underside of the lid and drop back into the pot to baste the meat. The weight and thickness of the pot's cast iron construction promote even heating and retention ; the tight - fitting lid minimizes evaporation. To Use: Brown meat or poultry in the doufeu. Add a small amount of liquid and the seasonings. Place lid filled with ice on casserole. Simmer over low heat on top of stove.}}</ref><ref name=david-cooking-lc-cousances-3>{{citation|last=David|first=Elizabeth|title=Cooking with Le Creuset and Cousances | year = 1969 | publisher = Clarbat Ltd.|location=London|oclc=222497593|quote=Doufeu, Pot Roaster, or Braising Pan: This interesting looking pot has been evolved from the ancient French copper or iron braising pan in which the cover was deeply recessed so that it would hold glowing charcoal embers. The joint or bird in the pot was thus cooked withhout benefit of oven, between two fires. Sometimes, if the pot was earthenware rather than metal, water (or, following ancient custom, even wine) instead of coals was put into the recessed cover. Just sufficient moisture would seep through to keep the food in the pot from drying up. Cooking time would often be calculated according to how many times the liquid in the lid had to be replenished. The notches on the inside of the cover of the Cousances Doufeu (literally, gentlefire) ensure that moisture collects and drops back in the food during cooking, as in the popular English oven utensil called the self-basting roaster. But while the self basting roaster is solely for the oven, the Doufeu is primarily designed for direct heat. In fact, it is what in American cooking is called a pot roaster or Dutch oven, and is especially useful for kitchenette cooks who perhaps are obliged to use a stove on which the oven is too small to hold a large bird or piece of meat. For those who have a full-size cooker in a kitchen shrt on storage space the Doufeu is also a practical utensil, for it can, of course, be used in all the same ways as an ordinary top-of-the-stove or oven casserole. (page 6)}}</ref> |
A conspicuous Cousances design was a [[dutch oven]] called the ''Doufeu'' (literally "gentle fire") in which the sunken or recessed lid was kept at a reduced temperature by placing ice cubes atop and allowing the steam inside to condense. As the inside of the lid was dotted with smooth protrusions or notches, the condensed droplets sprinkled back evenly on the cooking food to baste it.<ref name=home-economics-cousances>{{citation|title=Home Economics|volume = 26|publisher=Forbes|page=27|year=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c7tOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22cousances%22|quote=An unusual buy in casserole dishes is the Doufeu, a practical design from the French cast iron cookware company, Cousances. Rather than allowing steam to escape during cooking, the indented lid of the Doufeu is filled with cold water or ice cubes before cooking. This cools down the lid so that when steam from the cooking food comes into contact with it, liquid condenses back into the casserole. Small elevations on the inside of the lid collects the droplets and ensure even sprinkling of the liquid across the food. Although primarily designed for use on the top of the cooker, the Doufeu can be used inside the oven.}}</ref><ref name=doufeu-consumer-guide>{{citation|title=The Cook's Store: How to Buy and Use Gourmet Gadgets|last=Consumer Guide|year = 1978|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYdtP7qdLvAC&q=%22cousances%22|quote=The doufeu is a pot made of enameled cast iron and designed and manufactured in France by Cousances to recreate the traditional way of cooking. But instead of hot coals, one places ice cubes in the doufeu's concave lid while the pot simmers on the stove. The ice helps steam to collect on the underside of the lid and drop back into the pot to baste the meat. The weight and thickness of the pot's cast iron construction promote even heating and retention ; the tight - fitting lid minimizes evaporation. To Use: Brown meat or poultry in the doufeu. Add a small amount of liquid and the seasonings. Place lid filled with ice on casserole. Simmer over low heat on top of stove.}}</ref><ref name=david-cooking-lc-cousances-3>{{citation|last=David|first=Elizabeth|title=Cooking with Le Creuset and Cousances | year = 1969 | publisher = Clarbat Ltd.|location=London|oclc=222497593|quote=Doufeu, Pot Roaster, or Braising Pan: This interesting looking pot has been evolved from the ancient French copper or iron braising pan in which the cover was deeply recessed so that it would hold glowing charcoal embers. The joint or bird in the pot was thus cooked withhout benefit of oven, between two fires. Sometimes, if the pot was earthenware rather than metal, water (or, following ancient custom, even wine) instead of coals was put into the recessed cover. Just sufficient moisture would seep through to keep the food in the pot from drying up. Cooking time would often be calculated according to how many times the liquid in the lid had to be replenished. The notches on the inside of the cover of the Cousances Doufeu (literally, gentlefire) ensure that moisture collects and drops back in the food during cooking, as in the popular English oven utensil called the self-basting roaster. But while the self basting roaster is solely for the oven, the Doufeu is primarily designed for direct heat. In fact, it is what in American cooking is called a pot roaster or Dutch oven, and is especially useful for kitchenette cooks who perhaps are obliged to use a stove on which the oven is too small to hold a large bird or piece of meat. For those who have a full-size cooker in a kitchen shrt on storage space the Doufeu is also a practical utensil, for it can, of course, be used in all the same ways as an ordinary top-of-the-stove or oven casserole. (page 6)}}</ref> |
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The Cousances foundry also made cast-iron [[fireback]]s, one example of a design with stamp, "DECOUSANCES" dating to 1690.<ref name=bennett-firebacks>{{citation|last=Bennett|first=David|chapter=''Plaques de cheminée'', the French Revolution, and the Politics of Iconoclasm|title= Semy-de-Lys : speaking of arms, 1400-2016 |year = 2015|editor1-last=Robertson|editor1-first=Fiona|editor2-last=Lindfield|editor2-first=Peter N.|url=https://dro.dur.ac.uk/20725/1/20725.pdf|chapter-url=https://heraldics2014.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/5-bennnett.pdf|pages=76–77|quote=Some firebacks are ‘signed’ with the name of the pattern-maker or the foundry. The fireback shown in Fig. 8 is stamped ‘DECOUSANCES’, indicating it was made by the Cousances foundry, formed in 1553 and still manufacturing cookware under the Cousances brand into the 1980s.}}</ref> |
The Cousances foundry also made cast-iron [[fireback]]s, with one example of a design with stamp, "DECOUSANCES" dating to 1690.<ref name=bennett-firebacks>{{citation|last=Bennett|first=David|chapter=''Plaques de cheminée'', the French Revolution, and the Politics of Iconoclasm|title= Semy-de-Lys : speaking of arms, 1400-2016 |year = 2015|editor1-last=Robertson|editor1-first=Fiona|editor2-last=Lindfield|editor2-first=Peter N.|url=https://dro.dur.ac.uk/20725/1/20725.pdf|chapter-url=https://heraldics2014.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/5-bennnett.pdf|pages=76–77|quote=Some firebacks are ‘signed’ with the name of the pattern-maker or the foundry. The fireback shown in Fig. 8 is stamped ‘DECOUSANCES’, indicating it was made by the Cousances foundry, formed in 1553 and still manufacturing cookware under the Cousances brand into the 1980s.}}</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Revision as of 23:10, 5 November 2022
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Cousances was a French cookware manufacturer, known for enameled cast iron pans ("cocotte" in French).[1][2][3] The Cousances foundry in northeastern France began making cast iron pans in 1553;[4] four centuries later, it was acquired by Le Creuset in 1957.[5] Cookware under the Cousances brand continued to be manufactured by Le Creuset into the early 1980s.[6]
A conspicuous Cousances design was a dutch oven called the Doufeu (literally "gentle fire") in which the sunken or recessed lid was kept at a reduced temperature by placing ice cubes atop and allowing the steam inside to condense. As the inside of the lid was dotted with smooth protrusions or notches, the condensed droplets sprinkled back evenly on the cooking food to baste it.[7][8][9]
The Cousances foundry also made cast-iron firebacks, with one example of a design with stamp, "DECOUSANCES" dating to 1690.[6]
History
Cousances enameled cast iron skillets, pans, gratins, and pots were produced in the town of Cousances-les-Forges[10] and had features which distinguished them from their competitors, Le Creuset, Descoware of Belgium, and the Scandinavian Copco. Among those features were the base, which was left without enamel (like Copco) but sealed against rust with the final glaze (unlike Copco), and the skillet design which was a French version of the classic American skillet popularized by Griswold and WagnerWare, having two pour spouts, a cast on handle, and a lifting tab on the largest of the handled skillets. That skillet design was altered to include rounded sides for tossing/ sauteeing, and the lift tab being added to smaller skillets for easier pouring. That refinement made the Cousances 20 cm and 26 cm skillets a hit with cooks, who use the skillet as a saucepan for gravies and glazes, because the gravies could be made right in the skillet in which the chops or chicken was fried, and glazes could be perfected much more easily than in a deeper saucepan, and the finished product was easily poured into other containers thanks to the tabs, spouts and handles.
Acquisition
The Cousances designs are now produced by Le Creuset from the original patterns, in the original foundry/factory. The small, round medallion style logo which once read "Cousances, Made in France" around the centimeter size, now reads "Le Creuset, Made in France". Le Creuset has changed the colors of the cookware in the old Cousances patterns; but Cousances pots, pans, skillets, roasters and Dutch ovens are still to be found as used pieces, and are recognizable by the medallion logo, glazed natural color cast iron bottoms, which they share with the Le Creuset current line.
References
- ^ David, Elizabeth (1969), Cooking with Le Creuset and Cousances, London: Clarbat Ltd., OCLC 222497593,
The Le Creuset and Cousances non-stick pans and skillets are coated with Castoflon, a very hard and porous enamel which can only be bonded onto cast iron. This in turn is coated with Silverstone, which becomes absorbed into the enamel producing an extremely durable and long lasting surface (page 2)
- ^ David, Elizabeth (1999) [1964], French Provincial Cooking, Foreword by Julia Child, Penguin Books, pp. 47–48, ISBN 978-1-101-50123-8,
from the 1983 editon: French vitrous-enamelled cast-iron pots, made by the famous firms of Le Creuset and Andre of Cousances, are now imported in quantity and in a large range of sizes and shapes. They are widely distributed.
- ^ Hesse, Georgia (1988), The Penguin Guide to France 1989, Penguin Books, p. 151,
Across the street , at 48 , rue Montmartre , is A. Simon's kitchenware annex , where a stock of Sabatier and Tour Eiffel knives and Cousances and Le Creuset enameled cast - iron cookware await the would be kitchen wizard
- ^ David, Elizabeth (1969), Cooking with Le Creuset and Cousances, London: Clarbat Ltd., OCLC 222497593,
The Cousances foundry dates from 1553, and is part of the same group as Le Creuset. Many items are common to Le Creuset and Cousances (page 3)
- ^ Narins, Rachel (2019), Cast Iron: The Ultimate Cookbook, Kennebunkport, Maine: Ceder Mill Press Book Publishers, p. 745, ISBN 978-1-60433-888-1,
Cousances – Originally a foundry in northern France, Cousances began production in 1553. The historic company existed for centuries before it was purchased by Le Creuset in 1957. The company still sporadically reissues some fo the Cousances line in limited editions that are available online or at select retail outlets.
- ^ a b Bennett, David (2015), "Plaques de cheminée, the French Revolution, and the Politics of Iconoclasm" (PDF), in Robertson, Fiona; Lindfield, Peter N. (eds.), Semy-de-Lys : speaking of arms, 1400-2016 (PDF), pp. 76–77,
Some firebacks are 'signed' with the name of the pattern-maker or the foundry. The fireback shown in Fig. 8 is stamped 'DECOUSANCES', indicating it was made by the Cousances foundry, formed in 1553 and still manufacturing cookware under the Cousances brand into the 1980s.
- ^ Home Economics, vol. 26, Forbes, 1980, p. 27,
An unusual buy in casserole dishes is the Doufeu, a practical design from the French cast iron cookware company, Cousances. Rather than allowing steam to escape during cooking, the indented lid of the Doufeu is filled with cold water or ice cubes before cooking. This cools down the lid so that when steam from the cooking food comes into contact with it, liquid condenses back into the casserole. Small elevations on the inside of the lid collects the droplets and ensure even sprinkling of the liquid across the food. Although primarily designed for use on the top of the cooker, the Doufeu can be used inside the oven.
- ^ Consumer Guide (1978), The Cook's Store: How to Buy and Use Gourmet Gadgets, Simon & Schuster, p. 60,
The doufeu is a pot made of enameled cast iron and designed and manufactured in France by Cousances to recreate the traditional way of cooking. But instead of hot coals, one places ice cubes in the doufeu's concave lid while the pot simmers on the stove. The ice helps steam to collect on the underside of the lid and drop back into the pot to baste the meat. The weight and thickness of the pot's cast iron construction promote even heating and retention ; the tight - fitting lid minimizes evaporation. To Use: Brown meat or poultry in the doufeu. Add a small amount of liquid and the seasonings. Place lid filled with ice on casserole. Simmer over low heat on top of stove.
- ^ David, Elizabeth (1969), Cooking with Le Creuset and Cousances, London: Clarbat Ltd., OCLC 222497593,
Doufeu, Pot Roaster, or Braising Pan: This interesting looking pot has been evolved from the ancient French copper or iron braising pan in which the cover was deeply recessed so that it would hold glowing charcoal embers. The joint or bird in the pot was thus cooked withhout benefit of oven, between two fires. Sometimes, if the pot was earthenware rather than metal, water (or, following ancient custom, even wine) instead of coals was put into the recessed cover. Just sufficient moisture would seep through to keep the food in the pot from drying up. Cooking time would often be calculated according to how many times the liquid in the lid had to be replenished. The notches on the inside of the cover of the Cousances Doufeu (literally, gentlefire) ensure that moisture collects and drops back in the food during cooking, as in the popular English oven utensil called the self-basting roaster. But while the self basting roaster is solely for the oven, the Doufeu is primarily designed for direct heat. In fact, it is what in American cooking is called a pot roaster or Dutch oven, and is especially useful for kitchenette cooks who perhaps are obliged to use a stove on which the oven is too small to hold a large bird or piece of meat. For those who have a full-size cooker in a kitchen shrt on storage space the Doufeu is also a practical utensil, for it can, of course, be used in all the same ways as an ordinary top-of-the-stove or oven casserole. (page 6)
- ^ Wikipedia France