Group of celebrity chefs feed hungry La Palma residents

Working near the glowing lava flowing from a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, rescuers eagerly await their lunch break – and while any food will do, it tastes better when it comes from a famous chef’s kitchen.

Chef Jose Andres’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen (WCK) delivered hot meals, sandwiches and water to thousands of evacuees as well as rescue workers supervise the withdrawal of residents of danger.

“Although there are so many of us, it seems there is a lack of staff… including those who come down to give us a sandwich! It sounds silly but after eight hours on the ground it’s fundamental, ”said Guardia Civil police captain Diego Ortiz.

Arriving in one of the emptied neighborhoods in a van, WCK volunteer Pablo Pais told Reuters: “The lava is very close. Until the day before yesterday, there were still people in these houses.”

The association started preparing 200 meals a day at the start of the eruption – which began on September 19 – and now has 1,400, with a daily increase, said Olivier de Belleroche, a 45-year-old chef from Madrid who works for WCK.

After the manager of a local hotel suggested using all of the hotel’s food stocks as creeping lava threatening to cut power lines, WCK and its partners organized a large convoy of food for the military, rescue workers and evacuees, he said.

“It’s very moving, this feeling of being constantly on the alert, so many people lose their homes,” said Belleroche to himself after taking out of the oven a tray filled with dozens of hot dishes sealed in a lively kitchen. sold by a supermarket chain.

“You get more and more involved with people – I’ve been doing this for four weeks now,“he added, explaining that initially he had only come for a few days.

WCK chef Andres is known for his innovative cuisine and credited with popularizing tapas in America in the 1990s.

He recently partnered with the Archewell charity of British Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle to set up a series of community relief centers in disaster areas around the world.