Kitchenware in America: nurturing my obsession

As hinted by my obsession with cast iron pans, I am a huge sucker for kitchenware and cookbooks. Kitchen tools, plates, gadgets, pans: when I enter into a kitchenware shop I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy store. I even start to get stressed about the best strategy for browsing the shop: should I go directly to pick up  things I need/want, and then browse the rest of the store to see if something else catches my eye? Or should I start from racks with things I don't particularly care about, and slowly make my way to my real objectives? What if while I do that, somebody else snatches the only remaining item of something I was looking for? And what if, while I go directly for my target, somebody buys the only remaining gadget of something so amazing that I haven't even heard of?

I know, I know...

Although I had this lingering obsession already while living in Europe, America has exacerbated it. Because kitchenware shops here are mind-blowing. The choice, the quality, the prices, the atmosphere are nothing like I have ever seen in the cities that I lived in or visited before (with a possible exception: in Tokyo I spent 5 hours in a kitchenware shop trying things I had never seen in my  life; I bought so many things that I had to buy an extra bag to take them back home...and some of these things are still untouched).

When I was still living in Brussels I would make sure to always have time for at least two shops in my US business trips: Barnes & Nobles for books, and Williams-Sonoma for kitchenware/food. Yes, the prices at "Sonoma and Gomorra" (my nickname for this shop) are way high. But the pleasure I get from browsing it is embarassing.

For a country where most of the population does not and cannot cook, and rely on processed home made dishes, the quality of shops like Sonoma or Sur La Table may seem odd. However, once you get to understand how important are customer care, the strive for excellence and personal freedom for American society at large, it all makes sense: yes, there may be less people cooking than, say, in Italy or France. But what these people demand is huge variety of high quality tools. And they are ready to pay a steep price for it.

Speaking of steep price, though, my main problem with the US kitchenware shops is that often prices are actually way cheaper than in Europe...with the result that I always find a justification in my head to buy something new. I see a 12 inches cast iron skillet? Well, yes, I already have a 10-in and an 8-inch skillet, but hey, it is only $25...I already have five baking pans? Yes, but this one is 50% off, and it is one cm larger than the others I have...

My new Christmas dinnerware...

Another one of my favorite is Macy'. In Chicago the kitchenware department is located in the basement. When I feel down or homesick, this is where I go: browsing in Macy's kitchenware aisles. Which sounds sadder than it is, really.

Macy's is particularly good for its great sales. You see something that you like and all you need to do is wait a few weeks and you will be able to buy it at very, very low price. Before Christmas I had seen this very traditional collection of Christmas dinnerware (something that any housewife like me should have...). I waited and hop-la! I could snatch the entire set for a fraction of the price. And while at it, could I perhaps not take home this penguins winter wonderland dessert plates set, which was going for $9 down from $81? Only somebody with no heart could have left these little puppies there...

Do you believe me than I am here, in February, praying for November to come as fast as possible to be able to use these plates? There is something wrong with me.

My new Caribbean blue Le Creuset braiser:
how have I been able to cook without it
for so many years?

Anyway...I find that Americans here in Chicago are particularly obsessed with French brands of cooking tools. I don't know if this is a national obsession, but I am tempted to think it is. If French cuisine has lost its No. 1 spot in the preferences of American restaurant goers, the French allure still seems to conjure an image of quality in everything related to the kitchen.

Up until now I had always resisted the sirens of Le creuset, the iconic French cast iron enameled French ovens maker. The prices were way too high, and I was more than happy with my Lodge cast iron Dutch ovens and pans...But yesterday's visit at Sur La Table made my resistance melt: 20% off on already discounted Le Creuset's bakeware meant that this braiser in caribbean blue entered into my kitchen. Now I know myself: over the next few months I will obsess about owning some other pieces of the same color...