The Aga Saga

For 95 years, it’s been so much more than a cooker. Julie Harding lifts the hot plate on the heart-warming kitchen feature no country house should be without.

- Julie Harding

It’s the heart of the kitchen,’ declares Mary Berry, probably Britain’s most famous Aga owner. ‘I love the warmth and the wonderful welcome. If I had to live without one, I’d loathe it.’ Reassuringly traditional yet elegantly fashionable, the enduring cast-iron Aga has become a domestic icon in the 95 years since its invention by swedish physicist Gustaf Dalen.

Peculiarly British, like the sunday roasts and crumbly scones it produces, people who own one appreciate the shiny, instantly recognisable exterior that’s barely changed in a century, the consistent heat that emanates from its solid frame, the exceptional taste of the comforting delights that emerge from its cavernous ovens and the fact that it can be leaned against. ‘An Aga becomes a part of the family. I can’t think of any other home appliance that sparks that kind of love. It’s utter passion,’ confirms company spokeswoman Laura James.

Former Great British Bake Off judge Mary’s fondness for the Aga began decades ago when she was invited to her London flatmate Penny tetley’s Little Gaddesden home. ‘I learnt the theory of cooking from [Penny’s mother] Ma Block. I loved the way her Aga cooked,’ she discloses, before recalling an early culinary disaster. ‘I made a meringue layer on butter papers, but omitted to remove the papers during the assembly, which Ma Block found as she cut into it at supper.’