The Enamelled Pot

An heirloom. Buy once, braise forever. A colour you will defend at dinner parties and a heft that signals seriousness.

It weighs as much as a toddler and doubles as a will. You don’t cook in it so much as inherit it. Will it braise beautifully? Apparently. Will a cheap pot do the same? Also apparently — but it won’t photograph like a legacy. You buy it to leave on the hob as proof that someone here has their life together.

The genius was never the cooking. It’s convincing you that effort tastes better when it’s orange.