For Carlos Caballero, eating meat is not a choice. It is a necessity.

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The 62-year-old Uruguayan has resided in Wollongong for more than 30 years and when he is not working as a tiler, he will usually be found foraging through one of his freezers and finding a large piece of meat to prepare for his next meal.

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“Meat is provided for us to be eaten. And that’s the way it has always been for me”, he said.

When Mr Caballero chooses his meat, he won’t go for the most expensive cuts or delicate options, a standard piece will suffice. It’s the love and attention he puts into his meal preparation that makes all the difference.

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The meat-lover makes his own sausages, bacon and salami and will cook, cure and dry all his own animal products.

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With a distaste of wasting any food, he will often melt down any fats from the meat cuts and create his own soap.

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“Once you melt it down, you can add in the oils or fragrances and other good products you want and then you know what’s in it and that its good and natural,” he says.

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Growing up in various communities throughout South America before residing in Australia, Mr Caballero learnt of the importance of kinship.

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An understanding which he translates into his love of meat and cooking.

And when Mr Caballero cooks, he has no secret recipes.

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“I spend a lot of time working or volunteering at community events. I get asked to come along and I make my sausages and paella for anybody there to watch and then enjoy, hopefully”, Mr Caballero said as he sat back in his dining room chair with two large paella pans suspended from the ceiling above him.

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He believes that his lifestyle today is the result of his meat-filled upbringing.

But it’s a lifestyle he both leads and loves.