Voice on air – JESSICA MIOLO: Chef perception of plant-based proteins

Vegan, vegetarian and plantbased products are now widespread all around the world, from supermarket to restaurant’s menu. This can be a challenge for chef to experiments new dishes to embrace this new #trends in food. We had the chance talked about this and much more with Jessica Miolo, who attended this year at the Young Chef Olympiad Competition, of how this diets impact a chef’s life, from competition to daily work.

1. Hi Jessica, thank you for agreeing to this interview. We know you entered the Young Chef Olympiad competition, can you tell us more about this experience? What were the biggest challenges?

Cooking, coming up with new dishes, studying the compositions of different dishes and meals has always been in my DNA. I have won several competitions in the past few years, including a gold at the national championships of hotel institutes in 2019. Taking over from this very last competition, in February this year I was able to represent Italy at the Young Chef Olympiad, as well as the World Cooking Olympiad, which involves young chefs from all over the world every year.

In this challenge I faced 50 promising young chefs, although unfortunately it all took place remotely, due to COVID. Although I would have preferred a live event, as it would have been more stimulating from a human and professional point of view, I was honored to represent Italy in this competition, as it was a wonderful experience, even if it was at a distance. In October, the ingredients we could use in the competition were announced, and since then I began training to perfect the dishes I had developed, as well as to minimize the excitement of working under the eyes of a jury of experts, including national and international judges. The first test I faced included a first phase with the preparation and study of three different dishes, stage name “modernity in a dish“, “chicken Saul saute” and “A chocolate passion tea” that led me to be one of the 10 finalists of the competition “plate trophy”.

The dishes prepared were appreciated by the local judges especially for the designed combinations. The international judges, on the other hand, praised the professionalism and hygiene. The final phase of the test saw me struggling with the preparation of an elaborate Saint Honorè, where despite the difficulties I managed to get many positive comments from the judges. In a few words, I can say it was a competition of technique, ingredients and competitiveness that saw me get the third step of the podium.

1. Currently in the market are increasingly spreading products based on vegetable proteins, to meet the new trends of vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets. Do you think this trend is also reflected in the competitions you joined?

As you mentioned, a trend that is becoming more and more popular, and one that I have noticed both at work and in competitions, is the adoption of plant-based diets. It was at the Young Chef Olympiad that the first dish requested was vegetarian. In fact, the jury provided us with a list of ingredients with the maximum doses to make a dish that was strictly vegetarian. In my personal opinion, plant-based diets have many positive aspects. For example, they tend to be more environmentally sustainable, compared to diets rich in animal products, as they use smaller quantities, or less invasive of natural resources, resulting in less environmental damage. These are trends that, from my personal experience, are embracing different areas; from small restaurants to large manufacturing companies.  Certainly, from my work experience, I have been able to see that in the last few years this range of customers has increased dramatically. Then I think that, as a consequence, the same situation can be found in haute cuisine gourmet restaurants, even if perhaps they have not fully embraced this trend yet, as it happened for example in small restaurants or catering.

2. We know you are trying to experiment with plant-based products like TVPs. What are your thoughts on this type of product? Can you suggest any interesting applications?

To me, this is a new product I have never had the opportunity to try. I can say that this product surprised me, because having a neutral base, it can be used in hundreds of applications. For example you can use it in combination with a valerian, or an orange and lemon vinaigrette. Or you can get a rough “flour“, which can be used for the preparation of sweet products, a base for cheesecake flavored with amaretto, or simply an addition to breakfast. However it could also be used in salty preparations, such as TVPs wafers, stuffed with any other vegetable. As for its more classic use, as a substitute for meat, I would opt for using it in small sized preparations, such as meatballs, as it is easier to flavor at its best. Another preparation that, in my opinion, could be very successful, would be smoking TVP bites with chestnut or oak wood, served with a balsamic vinegar reduction on a bed of rocket or valerian, enriched with other vegetables.

Also as far as texture is concerned, I think it is very good and versatile, just because it can be used both dry and rehydrated, and therefore both as an ingredient to be consumed alone and in addition to others, even as a sort of very rough “flour”.

3. The popularity of diets focused on mainly plant-based products comes from several factors, such as health, environment and ethical reasons. From your experience, which culinary cultures are in line with this trend?

As they say, everything we introduce in our organism has consequences, on our health and on the environment. For this reason, nowadays there is a particular attention on nutrition, which has led to the spread of plant-based diets.  One of the things that, in my opinion, drives many people to adopt these diets, is the awareness of their choices about what is the world around them. I think especially the media manages to convey the concept of how food has an environmental impact, and this leads many people to embrace more informed and conscious food choices. For sure a change in our habits can contribute positively. I’ve noticed that at work, these plant-based diets have increased a lot, just taking as an example the clients I’ve interfaced with. Many people in fact are much more concerned about the origin and quality of the food they have on the table, and how this affects their health and the health of the environment. At the same time, many people are also interested in animal well-being and the sustainability of livestock farming, promoting the spread of plant-based diets, such as vegan and vegetarian. As far as culinary cultures are concerned, there are different types which can vary for religious reasons, country, health, and attention for the environment. Among the different diets, I believe that the Mediterranean diet can be an excellent starting point to adopt a plant-based diet, as it is based on mainly vegetable products. Taking the food pyramid of the Mediterranean Diet in fact, at the first step there are all vegetal products, such as fruits, vegetables, oil and legumes, and only at the second step there are products of animal origin.