I’m Damian, but everyone I eat with calls me Damo. I live in Sydney, I’m a dad of two young boys, and feeding people is how I show them I care.
Welcome to Damo’s Kitchen. Here, I share the meals I cook for my family and friends, with mains, sides and sauces designed to be eaten together. Some are quicker dinners for a busy weeknight. Others are weekend feasts, when I have a little more time and feel considerably less restraint.
My friends say I go a bit over the top with catering. I prefer to think of it as making sure nobody leaves hungry (growing up, it’s an offence to have your guests going home anything less than completely and utterly full!). Apparently, my wife and I have different definitions of “enough food”.
We didn’t have much money, but we ate like kings
Growing up, Mum made us proper home-cooked meals at least two times a day. We didn’t have much money, but we ate like kings. Food was how she showed her love.
When I was about ten, she started teaching my sister and me how to cook. We learnt things like fried rice, spaghetti Bolognese and Vietnamese pancakes. When I moved out in my 20s, she made me promise I wouldn’t survive on instant noodles. I had to feed myself properly.
That promise has stayed with me. Although I suspect she couldn’t have predicted it would eventually lead to me writing quite so enthusiastically about garlic butter on the internet.
Mum gave me that foundation, but two other people helped shape my love of food. My older sister introduced me to nice restaurants and other people’s cooking, opening my eyes to how much there was to enjoy beyond the meals we grew up with.
Then there was a Maltese lady I used to work with, affectionately known as my “work mum”. She taught me to make my very first ragù and lasagne. Those dishes still have a special place in my kitchen.
I’ve been lucky to have people in my life who shared their love of food with me. This is my way of passing some of that on.
Why eating together matters to me
Some people connect through shared hobbies. I connect with people through shared food.
Now that I have a family of my own, I appreciate even more what it means to spend time together and share the things we love. I want my boys to grow up knowing there’s a place for them at the dinner table at home.
At our place, dishes almost always go in the middle of the table. The adults help themselves, we help the boys when they need it, and our eldest makes a fairly swift assessment of which bits he likes best before anyone else gets involved.
We talk about whatever’s on our minds. Sometimes we don’t talk much at all. With good food in front of us, it’s easy to enjoy each other’s company in silence.
Life gets busy, especially with young kids. I know sitting down together doesn’t happen perfectly every night. But it matters to me, and the meals I share here are the ones I cook to bring my own family to the dining table.
What you’ll find in my kitchen
What I cook depends on our cravings and the night of the week. Weekdays call for quicker meals, but I still want a properly cooked dinner worth sitting down for. Weekends are made for splurging on a feast.
You’ll find recipes from different cuisines, dishes I grew up with, and meals I’ve learnt to love along the way. You’ll also find ideas for what to serve together, because a great main deserves some good company on the plate.
I would love for you to feel excited about sharing what you’ve made with the people you love. And I hope they appreciate the person who cooked it, too. There’s time, effort and care in putting a meal on the table. A happy second helping and a “that was really good” goes a long way.
So pull up a chair, find something you’d love to cook, and bring your people to the dining table.
Damo’s Kitchen — Recipes made for sharing.