They say cooking is a labor of love, and celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver is helping to prepare lots of it for Central Italy’s earthquake victims this week.
Oliver is one of 600 chefs around the world to join an aid campaign for survivors in the small Italian town of Amatrice—located about 88 miles northeast of Rome—which was decimated by the Wednesday 6.2 magnitude quake that’s killed at least 250 people to date, according to CNN.
Amatrice is famous for a pasta dish called spaghetti all’Amatriciana, which was invented there in the 17th century. To honor and aid the town’s victims, Oliver and other chefs are adding the signature item—made with tomato-based sauce, white wine, olive oil, and pecorino cheese, as well as pork jowls and chili—to their menus, donating two euros ($2.26) for every sale to the Red Cross for earthquake victims in Amatrice. The campaign was conceived by Rome-based blogger Paul Bell.
The “Naked Chef” posted a picture of the dish on his Instagram account to promote the campaign.
Https://www.instagram.com/p/BJiQg_4Dpey/
“I think we can easily make thousands and thousands of pounds [of the pasta] to help,” Oliver wrote. “Many restaurants are getting involved and this could really make a difference.”
The New York Times reports Oliver is joined by Stefania Proietti, mayor of Assisi, Italy.
Stefania Proietti, the mayor of Assisi, told me Assisi restaurants would donate €2 from every pasta all'amatriciana to quake aid efforts!
— Rachel Donadio (@RachelDonadio) August 24, 2016
Italian food blogger Paolo Campana posted about the campaign on his Facebook page.
“In the next few days, let’s [all donate] a euro for every plate of Amatriciana sauce ordered and consumed,” he posted along with the hashtag “#SaveAmatrice.”
Https://www.facebook.com/paolo.bloggokin/posts/10208686334909165
A 4.1 magnitude aftershock rattled the region Thursday as emergency crews worked feverishly to dig out survivors buried in the rubble of once-standing buildings and homes. Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi told CNN that “The town is no more.”