Local organiser Ana Martin and Spanish chef Zaratustra De Souza-Pinto created the monster dish to feed 250 people in Johns River and make an official Australian record attempt at the community hall.

A paella is a Spanish dish usually made of rice, saffron, chicken and seafood which is cooked and served in a large shallow pan.

"We wanted to do something in our community that is a bit different," said Ms Martin.

"We wanted people to appreciate looking forward to something out of the ordinary.

"There's no official record in Australia but we wanted to do it with a bang so we used a 1.5 metre pan.

"The dish took a little bit over an hour to cook and was actually very good. It was one of the best he has made."

De Souza-Pinto, known as Tustra, is from the Canary Islands and has held a number of Spanish nights on the Mid North Coast through his catering business called The Big Paella.

This latest paella is symbolic of De Souza-Pinto's dream to tour Australia cooking and sharing paellas.

"Tustra's dream is to travel around Australia and he thought it would be a great record," said Ms Martin.

"There is usually a Spanish event held every three months, the next one could be a different thing such as a sit down dinner."

The event collected names and phone numbers of attendees for the Australian Guinness Book of Records as well as donations towards a bigger paella pan for future events.

The event was organised by The Big Paella and Local Taste Hampers.

Funds raised on the night are being donated children's charities in Cambodia.

The official world record for largest paella was made by 80 chefs in Madrid during 2001. It fed 110,000 people using a pan 21 metres in diameter and 26cm deep.

Paella lovers can book their place in the next attempt by clicking here. 

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Port Macquarie News. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, SIGN UP HERE.