Ode to the kettle

Community Chef Samantha Wells shares her love for an often under-valued kitchen appliance. 

Clothing with an elasticated waistband should be the one gift we give and hope to receive at this time of year. That and maybe a descale of your kettle or at least a good dicht round the handle.Welcome to the last month of the year. We don’t need Santa’s little helpers in the kitchen, we just need our kettles.

If your workplace has those endless tubs of chocolates or rugby-team sized boxes of biscuits winking at you, I hear you. It’s rude not to have a couple when passing.. I blame the magpie quality of shiny wrappers and that Christmas sparkle that twinkles all around right now. And who can refuse another hand-warming cup of coffee with that eighth slice of a three-day-old fruit cake..

I am sending a quiet high-five to those busy kettles at this time of year. A quiet coffee in the morning, a soothing tea for an overwhelmed mind or a hurry up we need pasta NOW – the kettle is one of my best, albeit somewhat abused, side kicks. Even just the act of filling the kettle when the world around is going wild can be a meditative moment that brings you back to the present. An awkward silence can be countered by the sociable act of asking if anyone would like a hot drink.

There are so many new gadgets and kitchen ‘must-haves’ splattered on gift lists at this time of year but this stalwart is definitely one of the hearts of my kitchen. It gets its own box when moving house and it’s the first thing I switch on every single morning. You scan for one in a hotel room and you run to it in your best friend’s kitchen, when they are in dire straits, so really this kettle obsession is not just for builder’s tea.

It’s snowing here right now and I have a craving for warming comfort food, something to warm me up when its freezing out. Smoky chillies, tender stews, mashed potato, steamy piles of spaghetti… the list could go on and on. Anything that is easy to eat and cook would be the dream and more often than not the kettle has my back. Loosening up a reheated sauce, blanching greens, poaching eggs for a fussy child, speeding up a late dinner pot of water, swirling into a pan to ease up all those sticky, crispy, tastiest bits (!) and making into a gravy of dreams. Kettle, we need you.

So, here’s to getting through the next few weeks armed and ready for whatever it brings for yourself and your loved ones. Don’t forget you are only two minutes away from a hug in a mug!

Samantha Wells, Community Chef