OMINA ROMANA MEETS MULTI-MICHELIN-STARRED CHEF HEINZ BECK

 by Maria Carla Magni

The now well-established collaboration of Ômina Romana with one of the most authoritative Italian chefs in the world has allowed us to get to know the multi-Michelin-starred Chef Heinz Beck up close and to discover some of his secrets, which we want to share with our winery's friends.

It is not a given to have the opportunity to enter the kitchen of a great Chef, but Heinz Beck, thanks to his availability and kindness, allowed us to cross the threshold of his "kingdom," giving a great gift to his many admirers.

His résumé is impressive, almost Guinness-like, and his unique interpretation of "Modern" cuisine goes beyond his undisputed culinary talent, which includes the utmost attention to ingredient selection and their transformation into highly innovative flavors.

Heinz Beck is considered the leader of Italian and Mediterranean culinary tradition. Among numerous accolades, Chef Beck has been awarded by "Michelin," "Bibenda," "Gambero Rosso," and "L'Espresso" (to name just a few of the most well-known in Italy).

Heinz Beck is truly a multifaceted genius of our time, successfully interpreting the true dimension of modern gastronomy. Among numerous awards, we mention the "Gusto & Salute" (Taste & Health) award, a new unprecedented prize that testifies to his growing interest in the nutritional and beneficial values of food on the body.  

In 2016, he was appointed Ambassador of Extraordinary Italian Taste by MIPAAF, the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, for the promotion of Italian cuisine worldwide. In the same year, he also received the "Eccellenza Italiana" (Italian Excellence) award, in addition to receiving an Honorary Degree in Natural Bio Energies, recognized as the best chef. Finally, but not least, among the most prestigious awards, Heinz Beck received the Innovation Experience Award from the Italian Senate in 2019 on the occasion of the Innovation Oscar.

Given Heinz Beck's high cultural depth and unique characteristics, the chef has been a careful observer of the effects of food on the body for over 20 years, establishing important collaborations with national and international scientists and with several Italian universities to study the benefits of a good balance between food and health.

Heinz Beck's activities are not limited to the culinary world; with his wife Teresa Maltese, he created the consulting firm "Beck & Maltese," which offers global consulting and training in the food sector, industry, partnerships, management services, research, and innovation.

For those who have not yet experienced the unique culinary experience offered by Chef Beck, you can try it at one of the many restaurants directly managed by the B&M Consulting Group, the foremost among them being "La Pergola" – Rome *** Michelin since November 2005, and it is here that our encounter with Chef Heinz Beck takes place during the special show-cooking created for Ômina Romana and the wine pairings.

We were thus able to exchange some thoughts, which we present in the exclusive interview.

- CHEF BECK, WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE HIGH-END RESTAURANT SECTOR DURING THIS LONG PERIOD MARKED BY THE COVID EMERGENCY?

HB – Unfortunately, the Covid problem is not yet completely resolved, but despite everything, I want to remain confident that we will move towards improvement, especially thanks to science and vaccinations. Although we should all have learned by now that much depends on our behavior and our attention to not getting sick, but also to not making others sick. The long period we are experiencing, marked by the pandemic, is very difficult and complicated to deal with, especially due to the numerous unforeseen events we could never have imagined, a real imponderable sword of Damocles. However, it is always good to look at things with optimism. One of the positive notes is certainly the deep collaboration that has developed among colleagues in contributing to building workplaces that protect and safeguard the health of everyone, both for us professionals and for our clients. My "Beck&Maltese Consulting" Group has adopted every tool aimed at ensuring customer safety through the required correct social distancing.

- YOU WERE A PIONEER AMONG CHEFS IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE CUISINE AND AWARENESS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN RESTAURANTS: HOW DID THESE CHANGES COME ABOUT?

HB - Staying on topics of great interest and current relevance, I want to remind you that 10 years ago, at a convention at the FAO (The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), I presented a project dedicated to the circular economy in restaurants. Furthermore, for several years now, development and research have been fundamental for me; we pay particular attention to sustainability as the basis for conscious and greater knowledge. In practice, this concept applies already from the creation of dishes as an important step compared to the linear economy (i.e., the use of raw materials resulting in a lot of waste for a perfect final product). The circular economy, already at the moment of creating the dish, aims to avoid waste as much as possible, and if there is any, it must be reused to prevent waste. We need to become aware of waste, which is always a cost. For example, for winter, we created a dish where we use all seasonal vegetables such as dried savoy cabbage and kale, including their leaves, which were not normally used, to create chips. With chestnuts, we also recovered the peels, which are toasted and put in oil to make "chestnut oil powder." And with this approach, we have many other dishes. Furthermore, extreme attention is paid to the use of raw materials that are selected through collaboration with organic and biodynamic producers, who are scrupulous in adopting ideal agriculture attentive to adapting to climate change. This means regenerating the soil with new crops, reducing mechanical work on the land, and thus creating the conditions for more oxygenated and therefore more naturally fertile soil. It is therefore fundamental to activate agriculture designed for the good of the earth, humanity, but above all for the quality of the fruits that the earth produces. All this also benefits the quality of taste and health. For several years, we have been collaborating with a producer of perfect aromatic herbs, meaning without pesticides and without fertilizers. Fortunately, over the years, the market has evolved, bringing greater openness to those small producers who carry out cultivation with an ecological and bio-sustainable production cycle. All this is aimed at guaranteeing our guests healthier, lighter, and tastier food. This has been my goal for at least 20 years, when I started working in collaboration with scholars and doctors with the aim of making my dishes digestible and rich in micronutrients. For some years now, I have been in the second phase of the project, which replaces previous market supplies with higher quality products, starting from the origin of raw materials that come from selected small producers.

I find a previous FAO pilot project very relevant, which I would like to recall, as it was implemented several years ago in relation to the advancement of desertification. Specifically, a desert area in Africa was taken as a sample and successfully converted into a highly vegetative zone, finding a right balance in repopulating animals and plants through soil cultivation. A field was taken and divided into 4 parts, where every 3 months, various animals grazed in restricted areas, with the exception of goats, which tend to be more destructive. By grazing, the animals ate the existing vegetation, uprooting carbon dioxide-rich roots and making the land increasingly fertile without the use of pesticides. The physiological waste of the animals also creates perfect compost in the soil.

- WHICH OF THE DISHES YOU'VE CREATED ARE YOU MOST FOND OF, AND WHICH ÔMINA ROMANA WINE WOULD YOU PAIR WITH IT?

HB – Well, there are several dishes, but perhaps the one I'm attached to today is the dish offered at the reopening after the lockdown. It's "Watermelon Carpaccio with Seafood and Tomatoes in different preparations."
It's obviously a summer dish, full of color and sunshine. The peculiarity is the marinating with a birch infusion (birch is a resistant tree that never dies, a tree of life and hope), necessary to create a link in the dish between resilience and the future of rebirth. Therefore, it's extraordinary in taste, but also symbolically. The dish is also paired with jasmine (the quintessential summer plant, feminine, fragrant, sensual), and here too I wanted to bring an optimistic vision of the future, which was a great success.
I pair this dish with an aromatic white wine like a fragrant Viognier Linea Ars Magna, or for its freshness, an Hermes Diactoros II Bianco is also perfect.

- YOUR PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY IS PUNCTUATED BY COUNTLESS AWARDS, DO YOU STILL FIND NEW INSPIRATION AND EMOTIONS, HEINZ BECK?

HB – The awards I receive are not an arrival point for me, but always a starting point to do better and to innovate, but above all to stimulate the team. Never stop, it's always important to think about what's new that's coming, and only then do you feel the need to tell stories.
And I hope I still have a lot to tell!

- WHAT WISH WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEND TO ALL FOOD LOVERS AND OUR FRIENDS AT OMINA ROMANA?

HB – To always eat and drink well because life is too short to eat and drink badly, but jokes aside, we really are what we eat. The sooner we are aware of eating well, the better we can stay healthy and the better we can age.
Eat well to age well, with strength and health – that is my wish for all of you!

CAMPAIGN FINANCED ACCORDING TO (EC) REGULATION NO: 1398/2013