Miguel Maestre, who has been a presenter on Australian television for ten years, has prepared hundreds of rations for emergency workers in the most affected areas
Operation Paella-Tron. This is how Miguel Maestre has called the challenge he has set out to carry out: make the largest paella in Australia. A solidarity action with which this Murcian chef, based in Sydney, has managed to distribute at least a thousand servings of paella to emergency workers and those affected by the floods.
Australia is experiencing its worst flooding in a decade, which has caused the Australian emergency services to order the evacuation of 200,000 people due to the advance of a strong storm, which has left 13 dead in the last week.
“You can do two things in life: sit on the couch watching the news, or get your ass up and do something for the people you care about. And I have decided that I cannot sit at home watching everything that is happening on the news, ”said Maestre, also known as ‘El Toro Loco’, on the Australian television program ‘Studio 10’.
This feeling has been what has driven the Murcian chef to face a giant paella pan, 150 kilos of chorizo, 150 kilos of chicken and as many homemade sauces, peppers, peas and garlic. Maestre assured the television program that the paella would have the same flavor as the one “you can find in the best restaurant in Australia.”
Miguel Maestre has been the host of the award-winning lifestyle TV show ‘The Living Room’ for ten years. In addition, he is the owner and founder of a gourmet brand. The chef launched an appeal on his social networks to recruit volunteers and “the response has been overwhelming”, the Murcian has confessed to ‘Studio10’. “Sometimes the stars align and magic happens,” he says.
The chef has managed to make at least 1,000 servings of paella, as he has shared through Instagram Stories. The rations have been packaged and transported with the help of local agencies to the areas that need it most. The effort has been worth it: “I am very tired, devastated, sooo happy,” Maestre posted on Instagram along with a photo of the empty paella pan.