The Story of La Cuisine

The Story of La Cuisine
Design & Technology
Thought for Food
New Pro Range

History

La Cuisine is a small family-owned business based in beautiful Donegal, Ireland, famed for its many handicrafts. It is the home of the world-famous Donegal Tweed, which has been manufactured there for centuries. It is the most northerly county in Ireland, an inspiring place dominated by a rugged coastline, sea cliffs, and mountains.

The business is run by Brian Gallagher and Julianne Hayes, a husband and wife team who share a passion for cooking. Having opened their first specialist cookware shop in the UK before moving back to their native Ireland, they now have almost 20 years of experience in the cookware industry.

Why La Cuisine

Having sold cast iron cookware as retailers, it quickly became apparent that the range of cast iron available in the market was limited. Brian and Julianne felt that what was obtainable was either:

good quality but overly expensive or
poor quality or
of poor design

One of the key shortcomings identified in other cast iron ranges related to the poor design of the handles and the ability of the customer to grasp the items properly and securely when removing hot casseroles from the oven with oven gloves.

Design

Before beginning the process of creating La Cuisine, it was necessary to first set about the task of securing the services of a world-class designer. In conjunction with The College of Art and Design in Dublin, we were introduced to Marcus Notley*

All aspects of the design were painstakingly discussed by the team. The importance of handle design was emphasized. The resulting wide-angle wedge profile handle on all La Cuisine products has been a complete success. The handles allow 4 fingers to pass through, guaranteeing a stable grip whilst the inner wedge provides a platform on which to rest the fingers, for both comfort and stability.

The range has won numerous awards, including ‘Best Kitchenware Product’ for two consecutive years at the Home and Gift Fair, where the series was first launched.

Crest & Name

The La Cuisine Crest is a variation on the Gallagher Family Coat of Arms. The Gallaghers were the most senior branch of the Cenél Conaill, the group of families who all descend from Conall Gulban. Their territory was in Tír Chonaill (literally “Conall’s Land”), in what is now Co. Donegal – they held a castle in Ballyshannon, in the south of the county.

The name ‘La Cuisine’ was chosen because cast iron is very suitable for the slow cooking processes which define French cooking and which has been synonymous with France for centuries.

This product is truly a combination of the best that Ireland and France have to offer; superb Irish design for French-style cooking.

Colours

La Cuisine has a unique palette of gorgeous deep 2-tone colours partly inspired by our surroundings here in Donegal. The Ultramarine Blue is the colour of the Atlantic Ocean that surrounds Donegal. The vivid green represents the green fields that are to be seen all around us.

Production Method

La Cuisine range is produced using the DisaMatic production method, invented by Professor Vagn Aage Jeppesen at the Danish Technical University in Copenhagen. The benefits of DisaMatic are many, including a uniform and consistent quality. It also results in lighter and smoother castings, which can then be properly enameled without the risk of bubbling. The sand molds for each individual piece are used only once, making every item unique. Moreover, each piece is then subject to a number of processes, all done by hand, fettling, grinding, sanding, enameling, etc.

Three layers of enamel are applied a bonding layer and two further coatings. The items are then kiln-dried before being subjected to a series of quality checks.

Each item is carefully packed into a beautiful gift box designed especially for the product.

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