Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Fresh pizza with pear, chorizo, blue cheese and walnut
Pear and walnut pizza
One of my favourite possessions is my Kenwood Chef mixer. I bought it second hand when I was sixteen years old, so it is at least forty years old. It is a phenomenal machine. It has never once broken down, never once failed me. I have never even had it serviced. I cannot begin to count the number of meals it has helped me produce over the years. A lot of love has been channelled via its now ancient motor; food created to show care, to celebrate or commiserate, or to simply nourish and nurture. Each time I use it is special, a reconnection with all that history and all those moments, with everything that matters most to me. That is what food means to me, it is why I love cooking, why feeding people is such a joy. It is never just stuff on a plate, it is an expression of love and connection, be it an everyday meal or a special occasion.
Throughout this past year, I have used it way more than usual. Like many others, I am cooking more often, three meals a day at home as opposed to eating out or grabbing lunch from the shops on a near-daily basis. Amid all the stresses and challenges of the pandemic, that part at least has been a joy. It too is now part of the story of my Kenwood Chef, part of what I will remember in years to come when I use it again and again.
