191 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
191 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
foodanddrink
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8125713
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# Tried & Tested: Lacanche range cookers
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## Our new weekly column sources the best gadgets, shops and food.
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![Lacanche cooker][1]
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Lacanche cooker
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Rose Prince 6:18PM GMT 11 Nov 2010
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[Comments][2]
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While British critics have bemoaned standards in French rural family
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restaurants, we have fallen in love with their cookers. More than 20,000
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British kitchens are graced by a bespoke hand-forged Lacanche range cooker.
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Made in Burgundy, the "Aga of France" also lasts a lifetime. The difference
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between Lacanche and Aga lies in control; the French oven has a greater
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_batterie_ of gadgetry, with powerful, controllable heat. Aga's charming
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latent yet uncontrollable heat can be a cook's curse (not least the bane of
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environmentalists.)
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Curious to see the birthplace of Lacanche, I head for Burgundy. After driving
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through the thirst-inducing village of Puligny-Montrachet, I drive up the hill
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towards the town of Lacanche, where ranges have been made since 1796. Some 99
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per cent of each cooker is forged in the factory. Owned by the Augagneur
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family since 1979, the business employs 90, and uses only European steel and
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iron. Explaining the growth of sales in Britain, Rupert Cotterell of Lacanche
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UK says it's simple: we are becoming better cooks, and as a result "people are
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demanding more gadgets from a cooker, and proper control".
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On my return from a fascinating day spent watching the welders of Lacanche
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perform their couture, I put my neighbour's new, duck egg blue, 1.5-metre
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Lacanche Cluny to the test. She had been on the point of ordering an Aga, but
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instead paid £7,500 (excluding delivery) for a four oven, five burner cooker
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with built in grill plate (plancha.)
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I baked bread, pies and tarts in the fan convection oven and braised beef stew
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in the simmering oven at 85C. On the plancha I seared fish and toasted little
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blini. High temperatures for baking (up to 300c) yield deep gold pastry while
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still retaining the moisture of the pie contents, and allegedly makes great
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souffle, too. My bread developed a brittle crust and the griddle was easy to
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use; it has a special metallic coating that prevents sticking.
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So, are they as good as they seem? My conclusion: this was a malleable beast,
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a proper chefs' oven but one with domestic charms.
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## Related Articles
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* [The perfect hunter's lunch][3]
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05 Nov 2010
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* [Rose Prince's recipes for November][4]
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04 Nov 2010
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* [Roasted partridge with pork and prune sausages][5]
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04 Nov 2010
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* [Grilled marinated fish][6]
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04 Nov 2010
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* [Whipped potato and crumbly cheese with leek butter][7]
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04 Nov 2010
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* [Steamed vegetable salad recipe][8]
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04 Nov 2010
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The hobs of each cooker are custom made, and need not be gas-fired. In France,
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I had seen the induction hob in action, when Patrick Bertran, head chef of the
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nearby three-star Relais Bernard Loiseau, sauteed frogs legs in a well of
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goose fat (a truly Gallic gastronomic moment).
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For recipes ideally suited to a Lacanche consult _French Provincial Cooking
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_by Elizabeth David (Penguin, £9.99). The British doyenne of French recipe
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writing evokes the France that once had a great restaurant in every village,
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and lists the very best of bourgeois and regional cooking.
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_Today's Special_ (Quadrille £20) is by Anthony Demetre, the foremost imitator
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of the best of French bistrot cooking, as found in his restaurants Wild Honey
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and the newly opened [Les Deux Salons][9] in London, a brasserie with a French
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heart and a stunning mosaic floor. £e_STnSLacanche cookers are handmade in
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sizes from 70cm to 2.5m - each is bespoke. From approximately £4,680 (heat and
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smoke extraction is recommended), up to £16,000.
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[Lacanche][10], Fourneaux de France, 3 Albion Close, Newtown Business Park,
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Poole, Dorset
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BH12 3LL (01202 733011)
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Other ranges: Aga prices for a four-door oil-fired version, £8,195 incl
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delivery and installation. Mass market range cookers such as [Brittania][11],
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[Rangemaster][12] and [Stoves][13], start at approx £1,600.
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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* Share: [Share][14] [ ][16] [ ][17]
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[Tweet][18]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8125713/Tried-and-Tested-Lacanche-
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range-cookers.html
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Telegraph
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## [Food and Drink][19]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][20]
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* ### [Rose Prince »][21]
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[![Disparity by Christopher Boffoli: everyday scenes created using food and
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toy figures][22] ][23]
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### [Tiny people in your food][23]
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[![Pancake Day recipe: cinnamon, banana and chocolate crepes, Five Minute
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Food][24] ][25]
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### [Pancake Day: how to make perfect crepes][25]
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[![Alan Sailer's high-speed pictures of the moment pellets fired from an air
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gun hit objects][26] ][27]
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### [Faster than a bullet][27]
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[![][28] ][29]
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### [Meals on your fingers][29]
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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Share:
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* [ ][14]
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* [ ][16]
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* [ ][17]
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* [Tweet][18]
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* Advertisement
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![][30]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][31] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][32]
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[![wineshop_v2][33]][34]
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* [WHITE WINE][37]
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var puffs_8122053 = new Array();
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