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.
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.’
Denne historien er fra March 15 2017-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 15 2017-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
