PAELLA PASSION By Melissa Walsh
J
uan Palomares remembers holidays on the peninsula as a child, when the whole family would spend relaxing weeks at the beach, fishing, cooking, eating and enjoying life together. “As a kid of about 13, we came to the foreshore at Rye. Dad (Juan senior) would cook paella on the beach and I would chase up the wood. He would light it and he would cook paella outside under the tee tree. We would find stuff and cook it, and everyone would gather around. Dad would say to me ‘I’m ready for the chicken, or the prawns’, and it was my job to pass them to him. We would go out and catch pippies off the foreshore as well and put them in. Then we would all siesta under the tree,” said Juan, who found himself living in Rye many years later. “It’s like everything has come full circle. I now run my business, Peninsula Paellas, and live in the same place where we used to holiday as children.” Born in Madrid, 49 year old Juan was reintroduced to the peninsula 12 years ago when he used to visit the wineries and spend hours on the golf courses. The similarity between his hometown and the peninsula was too strong and eventually pulled the Spaniard back to the southern shores. “Living on the peninsula, it reminds me of home, with the vines and the wineries and being on the water is always good. It’s the feeling I get living here that I love,” said Juan who had run cafes in town over the years. “I was always into the cooking growing up in a Spanish family where food was a major event and I watched my parents cooking a lot.” Moving to the peninsula meant Juan could pursue this love of cooking full time so he started Peninsula Pantry. As fate would have it, one day he came across a huge paella pan which sparked an idea. “I had wanted to do something special for my staff so decided to cook paella to thank them for all their hard work. They loved it and said I should cook it down here so I started off doing the odd catering job and it has taken off from there.” Before long, Peninsula Paellas was in such demand, the paella chef decided to devote his full attention to the business. These days, Juan can’t remember the last time he had a weekend off, and loves every moment of this new life.
E ssence
76 | PENINSULA
April 2017