Miguel Maestre - Feast: 100 generous dishes to share

For my queen Sascha, my beautiful princess Claudia and my little warrior Morgan. Yo u are my every thing, the people I look up to, the ones I look forw ard to, the best of me, my biggest treasures. With love y cario, King Papa

100 GENEROUS RECIPES TO SHARE

INTRODUCTION

INTRO

I arrived in Austra lia with broken English, a n empty wallet and a suitc ase full of dreams. I have since made this country my home and it is where my care er as a chef has really taken ight. From the rst day I set f oot in a commercial kitchen, I felt like I was on a great journey of discovery . If Im honest, i t is the only place Iv e ever felt I tr uly belon ged. I am an extremely hyperactive per son and I have always found it hard to focus in other settings, s o I was very lucky to nd my place through cooking . I had previously worked in a shop , i n sales and marketing and in various other roles, b ut in the kitchen, f or the rst time, I felt like I could channel all my energy into a job. R ather than being a negative thing my legs twitching under the desk at the o ce! my energy levels saw me excel. W hil e chefs younger than me wo uld be broken by the end of a busy serv ice, I would still be standing and read y to go. F inally , it felt like a positive thing to be doing lots of di er ent things at the same time, a nd the physicalit y of the job was perf ect for me. e kitchen felt like where I was meant to be and I fell in lo ve with food. I began my cooking career in Edinburgh at the age of 18. I had nished school b ack home in Spain, t ried my hand at a few other jobs like helping my mum in her shop , b ut ultimately wanted to head overseas on an adv enture. I t was while working in a restaurant in Edinburgh that I met my future wife, S ascha, w ho was a waitress there at the time . Wh en I nished my chef s apprenticeship at 21, S ascha and I decided to give her hometown of S ydney , Australia, a try . I loved it straight away and, a s you can see, w e never left ! I started right b ack at the bottom in Syd ney restaurants; I n ever took for granted the opportunities I was given, e ventually working alongside some of the country s best chefs. I probably learned the most fro m T o ny Bilson, o ne of the true founding fathers of Austr alian cuisine. To ny gave me a solid foundation in the F renc h classics jus, c on t, p artridge, bouillabaisse and taught me the importance of hard work and dedication to my craf t. I t was like being at the best cooking school in the worl d, w orking alongside To ny and his team. Another highlight was meeting F err an Adri and being invited by him to cook at his famed Spanish restaurant, E l Bulli. i s was the other end of the spectrum to cooking with To ny , as it was all about innovation, m odernity and reall y pushing the boundaries of f ood. e old-school techniques I learned with To ny , coupled with the new-school innovation at El Bul li, p ut me on the path to becoming the chef I am today . My cooking really blossomed in A ustralia, w ith the amazing and abundant fresh produce w e have here. M y Spanish sty le of cooking is all about generosit y , big avours and shared f easting, and I found these things translated perf ectly to Austra lian palates. A ustralians are great travellers and always keen to embr ace new avours and ideas, s o I have found touring the countr y w ith food and wine festivals and other events o ver the years to be incr edibly rew arding. At 28, I opened my own Spanish restaurant: El To ro Loc o ( e Crazy B ull), n amed for the totem animal of Spain. I wanted it to be like my personality in restaura nt form: full-on, passionate and intense! El To ro Lo co was so loud, w ith its open kitchen, amenco dancers, trumpeter and bell ri nging at the pass. I t was more of an experience or perf ormance than just a dinner out. e open kitchen was raised on a platform the rst thing you saw as yo u entered the restaurant and I was on show ther e ever y d ay . i s was how I really bec ame well known (and how I picked up the nickname, E l T o ro Lo co).

My restaurant and my work in high-p ro le eve nts soon led me to the world of tele vision, working on shows such as Boys W e ekend , Miguel s Tro pical Kitch en , Migue l s F east and e Living Room . A t the same time, S ascha and I were gr owing our little family . e things Im proudest of in life are being a husband to Sasc ha, f ather to Claudia and Morgan, a nd son to Antonio Luis and Fl orentina. e se are the people I look up to; they mean ever ythi ng to me. My second family is the one Iv e found through e Living Room : Gri ngo, B azz and Amanda. Wo rking with them is more of a lifesty le than a job, a nd the success of the show is really due to our friendship. S ome of my most beautiful memori es are of travelling with them all around Austra lia and the world and being welcomed into A ustralian living ro oms ever y Fr iday night. e Living Room has given me so many opportunities to cook with amazing A ustralian ingredients and meet almost ever y f armer and producer in this incredible countr y not to mention cooking alongside some of the wo rld s best chefs. e se experiences have really shaped my cooking styl e into what it is today: vers atile, m ulticultural, a chievable and fun. Although Australia is now my hom e, I remain a proud ambassad or for Spanish food. A few years ago I was pre sented the Order of Civil Merits by His Majesty King Fe lipe VI, K ing of Spain the highest and most prestigious award a S panish citize n can receive. O nly three other chefs in Sp anish history have received this awar d, a nd it was my proudest moment as a chef and entertainer . Not far behind that was being cro wned King of the Jungle in the reality show I m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! i s experience was something that really tested and changed me as a person. I t made me value the importance of family above all. As you ip through this book, y oul l come to understand my cooking sty le. To me, l ife is a feast for the senses and all meals should be generous, u nique, f un, o riginal and colourful. I am always looking for ways of doing things di er ently s ome might say I get a little crazy (like using a PVC p ipe to make pumpketta, s ee page ! It s a true masterp iece (or Maestrepiece?). is is my repertoire , from my kitchen and my heart to y ours. L ove is the best ingredient in life it makes ever ythi ng taste better . Chop chop, INTRODUCTION