Of the many bad limericks I’ve committed over the years, this is one of my favorites.

Cookware. What I wanted to say on the fascinating subject of cookware has already been said here, mostly. I favor hearty one-pot dishes, “peasant dishes” or “braising” in the cookbook vernacular. A heavy Dutch oven with lid is an almost essential vessel for cooking many of these dishes.

For years, I have favored Le Creuset, enameled cast-iron cookware made in France since 1925. I invested in several pieces over 15 years ago, and it remains fine stuff today. The problem with Le Creuset, though, has become the price! “Invested” is a word I chose carefully. I thought I was paying a lot in the early 1990’s, but today I cannot bring myself to pay what they demand for their wares. I have discovered that in France they can cost even more! Upwards of $200? We are talking about pots here.

However, Le Creuset has an even older counterpart in the United States: Lodge Cast Iron cookware of South Pittsburg, Tennessee. For over 100 years, Lodge has been manufacturing the black cast-iron pots and pans which have been so properly extolled in your comments here. I, myself, have an old black skillet that I intend to be buried with. Or cremated in.

What I really wanted to mention, though, was Lodge’s line of enameled cookware that rivals Le Creuset’s. I own a couple of these pots. They perform well and and are a lot cheaper, but, alas, Lodge’s enameled cookware is manufactured in China. I didn’t set out to pit one society against another or to discuss the moral hazards of modern globalization, but there it is.