Spanish chef Jose Andres wins Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award for Charity Work

[July 3, 2021: Josh Shavit]

Spanish chef José Andrés Puerta and the NGO World Central Kitchen he founded to supply meals in areas affected by natural disasters were granted the prestigious Princess of Asturias Award for Concord.

He has been nominated on several occasions for the prestigious Best Chef Award, has received numerous awards and has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in the past.

Born in northern Spain in 1969, Andrés moved to the U.S. in 1991 and was later naturalized as an American citizen. He helped popularize Spanish cuisine, especially the tapa, in the U.S. before he also became heavily involved in humanitarian work.

Andrés founded the World Central Kitchen in 2010 following a trip to Haiti to do aid work. Since then, it has been active in deploying field kitchens to respond to food crises both in the United States and abroad. The organization served over 3.6 million meals in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Last year, Andrés dedicated some of his own restaurants in the U.S. to help feed people in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Central Kitchen, which has been distributing food to residents of the apartment block that collapsed in Miami last week, has served over a dozen countries since its founding in 2010, distributing millions of meals and bringing together some 45,000 volunteers.

Called the child prodigy of culinary Washington, he is considered the main exporter of Spanish cuisine to the United States, where he owns some 20 restaurants.

The 50,000-euro ($56,700) Princess of Asturias Awards of Concord is one of eight prizes, including for the arts, social sciences and sports, handed out annually by a foundation named for Spanish Crown Princess Leonor.

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