Michelin chef shows Manila how ‘diet food’ can be delicious
An invitation to Solaire Resort’s 12th anniversary tasting menu at Finestra Italian Steakhouse prepared by one of the world’s most eminent masters of gastronomy could only mean one thing: I was in for a delectable treat.
German-born chef Heinz Beck, after all, has been accumulating multiple Michelin stars for his restaurants all these years, including two for St. George by Heinz Beck in Taormina, Italy, and one for Gusto by Heinz Beck at Conrad Algarve in Almancil, Portugal. His La Pergola in Rome is the only three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the Italian capital.
One of the founders of the Order of the Knights of Italian Cuisine, Beck’s dining establishments all over the globe have been recognized by other similarly esteemed institutions like Bibenda, Gambero Rosso, and L’Espresso.
One by one, the beautifully plated dishes for the six-course tasting menu were brought in front of me, vibrant against the elegant ivory dinnerware.
The marinated amberjack starter was fragrant and soft, with a meaty crunch from the chunk of celeriac in seawater and subtle sweetness from the sprinkling of oxidized chocolate.
Beck has perfected the cook of the crustacean in the two succeeding dishes featuring shellfish. The juicy scampo (langoustine) gets satisfyingly squashed in the mouth almost immediately, its saltiness mixing well with the mild zest of the gazpacho and crunchy sweetness of the bell peppers, served stewed and fresh.
The red shrimps in the pasta brought a similarly gratifying mouthfeel, playing nicely with the fusion of other textures like the firm chew on the sedanini and the crackle of crunchy ground croutons. The mix of buttery with smoky undertones and the hints of spice and zest was a dreamy delight.
Beyond taste
The hearty pumpkin risotto was a festival of flavors as well. Served with a heavenly amount of shaved truffle, the warm meal was best eaten with all the elements together in one bite. The artichoke brought in a bit of bitterness and a somewhat minty tang to the salty-sweet mouthful, while the crushed amaretti added a stimulating sweetness over the symphony of flavors and textures.
Earthy sweet undertones again accompanied the pistachio-crusted veal, with the tender meat contrasting playfully with the chunky consistency of nuts and dried fruits.
And for dessert, a curiosity: essentially an ice pop ball sitting on a sticky puddle of tea cream, crunchy chocolate, and crystallized raspberries. Breaking the hollow sphere disappointingly offered no surprise treat inside. But the sorrow quickly dissipated once spoon met mouth: The smooth tea cream was glorious. The crunchy chocolate was pure joy. The frozen fruit slushy and iced raspberries were each a tarty delight. And altogether? Divine.
But leave it to chef Beck to think beyond taste, look, and texture.
“For me, it’s important that what we are serving is very healthy as well. The health part of the food is as important as the enjoying,” he said.
The crushed chocolate sprinkled over the amberjack, he stated, was full of antioxidants. The red bell pepper ragout provided lycopene, while the uncooked green and yellow bell peppers were flush with vitamins.
The plant fat from avocado in the gazpacho contained vitamin E as opposed to animal fat, which is bad for the heart. Beck revealed that minerals that benefit the organs were also used to add saltiness to the first two dishes instead of table salt.
“May your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food,” he said, roughly quoting a phrase most attributed to Greek physician and philosopher Hippocrates (“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”).
Medical retreat center
The culinary artist’s deep interest in healthy food started in 2000 when he was tapped to be part of a medical research to observe what happens in the brain during the degustation of wine between a lay person and a professional sommelier.
“This was very stimulating and it got me interested very much in health,” he said, adding that he had since collaborated with experts in medical research in his work.
“I became concerned about the quality of the food and I started to learn to cook in a proper way,” Beck added.
“And then I started to make one step ahead through research.”
Research, he said, guides his decisions. “It’s not difficult to make decisions. It’s difficult to live with the decisions, and the more you know, the more precise a decision you can make.”
In Fiuggi, 80 kilometers from Rome, the renowned chef has even started a medical retreat center. “I have a hotel room and 15 different food lines all related to medical protocols. You can go and get immunity enhancement or detox. You can go hiking in the sports program. You can do weight loss with epigenetic food, which means we take the blood and we analyze the DNA so we can then prepare personalized diets.”
Truly healthy dishes
Diet food, of course, gets a bad rap for being bland if not downright unpleasant. But that’s because these were conceptualized by doctors whose concern resided solely on required nutrients. “They were not looking at how they could make the diet attractive,” explained Beck.
“You see, ‘diet’ is a word from Greece and it means rules. Of course, every diet has a lot of rules, but once answered on the rules, you can start to become creative. You can make it taste flavorful,” he added.
This doesn’t make creating the dishes harder, just different, he explained. And an additional step he has to take to improve his food’s nutritional value is worth it. In fact, his restaurants are always fully booked with a long waiting list.
But, of course, Beck emphasized that chefs have to have a well of knowledge about nutrition to be able to effectively create truly healthy dishes. This is all the more important these days, he says, when talk of nutrition and healthy cooking is becoming more and more en vogue.
“I hear a lot of chefs talking about nutrition and they have no idea what they’re talking about,” he lamented. “You have to have a big knowledge. I always have a very complex working group. I have always a team of nutritionists as well, because you cannot improvise.
“If you don’t have the degree, you cannot talk about health. It’s serious.”
