About us

Umbria Gourmet is a portal created by Oasi Umbria delle Eccellenze srl, a company that operates in the food sector, carrying out the transformation and commercialization of typical and natural products such as herbs, medicinal plants, mushrooms and truffles, excellent products of the region of Umbria that could become important factors of the development of the economy.

The consumer of today seeks natural and healthy food products, which have a strong qualitative connotation linked to the territory of oigen and what it represents in terms of environment and tradition, elements that are not reproducible in other territories. At the end of 2008, the year in which Oasi Umbria delle Eccellenze srl was founded, the territory of Umbria was interpreted as a resource in which sustainable agriculture stands out in the environment, therefore its objective is to contribute to the development of a Economy based on the identity of the territory, on knowledge and innovation, but also on creativity, history and quality. An economy that combines social cohesion and competitiveness, and to draw strength from the community and territories. Since August 2013 Oasi Umbria delle Eccellenze, with the brand of Umbria Gourmet, has focused its activity on research and experimentation for the production of food in the kitchen under vacuum. After about two years we have manufactured, tested and certified about 30 menus. Hors d’oeuvres, first courses, main courses, side dishes, desserts and meats and fish. The product is destined to a very varied objective: The final consumer, restaurants, wine bars and bars. Imagine that you are in Madrid, Plaza Mayor, or, why not, in London, in Trafalgar Square. And in the middle of the day you sit down and you can taste the best products of the kitchen of Umbrìa as recently prepared. All this is possible thanks to Umbria Gourmet. “THIS IS THE GASTRONOMY OF THE FUTURE“, explains Luciano Loschi, prescient and creator of the brand Oasi Umbria of excellence that since 2008 has interpreted the territory of Umbrìa as a resource in terms of typical typical products. “We have great wealth – Luciano explains – we have it under our eyes every day. From here I started my idea of ​​creating Umbria Gourmet “. It is not just a brand, but a real way to understand the quality, history and tradition of a territory and take it anywhere. Innovations: Since 2013 Luschi has been focused on research, testing and, finally, the production of cooked and vacuum-packed foods. This is the type of business of Umbria Gourmet: more than 30 menus for vegetarians and vegans, from appetizers and first courses, from second courses, side dishes and desserts prepared by the best chefs with high quality raw materials, Placed in a positive at + 2 ° C. With this simple method, “Useful life, that is, the time of expedition will increase in great measure and you can maintain all the organoleptic properties of the product up to a month” Season vegetables, lasagne With truffles, venison, liver paté, but also slaughters and sauces are always consumed anywhere. The gastronomy of the future does not allow waste and offers healthy and balanced diet with high quality raw materials. For this reason Umbria Gourmet together with the Academy of grassy and spontaneous grasses (Accademia delle Erbe Campagnole Spontanee) was in charge of representing the innovation and the excellent food of Umbrìa in the Expo 2015. All the best products of the earth within the Universal Exhibition of Food Cluster Umbria.

Vacuum Cooking

History

The process of vacuum cooking was developed in France during the early 1970s by Bruno Goussault as a solution to improve the cooking of red meat. He found that if the food was sealed tightly in a bag, almost in the absence of oxygen and cooked at a lower temperature than usual, restricted meat juices had a better consistency and uniform cooking resulting in maintenance Of a perfect color and much more flavor In the same period the chef Georges Pralus was perfecting the same technique of cooking, with the brothers Troigros in Roanne in the valley of the Loire. The experiment consisted of foie gras cooking in a plastic container, in the absence of oxygen and at a lower temperature. The result was sensational: the liver retains all its organoleptic properties, size and weight remained almost unchanged after cooking, “Shelf life”, ie expiration time, increased greatly while maintaining at the same time The organoleptic properties of the product. It is not possible to say who was the father of the vacuum cooking, Groussault or Praulus, as food in the technique of modern cooking. Certainly, both have contributed to the diffusion of this new technique that is now used in a large food sector.

What is vacuum cooking?

It is a cooking technique that consists in applying heat to a product, vacuum driven, in a heat resistant bag or container. This technique is characterized by the use of low tempeturas and in generates by the cooking time that the tracicionales.

Concepts of Physics

The vacuum cooking system is based on a simple physical concept: water at sea level boils at a temperature of 100 ° C, plus the pressure decreases and the temperature at which water is transformed into steam is reduced. By vacuum packing a food creates a pressure inside the bag that lasts the cooking allows to create steam at lower temperatures, which favors the cooking of the food in itself. This type of process allows to cook the food without having to affect negatively To the nutritive elements, allows to maintain intact the cellular structure, does not alter the organoleptic characteristics of the product, but exalts. The absence of oxygen does not lead to the oxidation of the products, which retain their original color even after cooking and throughout the time of their conservation.

Productive Chain

Food is prepared to cook (cut, cleaned, washed, etc.) and then seasoned with all foods that are part of the recipe (salt, fat, wine, flour, vegetables, herbs, spices, etc.)
It is then packed under vacuum in bags with high mechanical resistance of polyamide and polypropylene (BOPA / PP), resistant to temperatures up to 140 ° C.
It is then cooked in a steam oven with thermostat at a temperature below 100 ° C, or in a water bath.
At the end of cooking it is immediately cut in positive at + 3 ° C.
The product is then stored in a refrigerator at a temperature between + 1 ° C and + 3 °.
Better organoleptic quality

Vacuum insulation before cooking allows the insulation of the food from the external environment and subsequent cooking inside the bag creates a condition that allows the pasteurization that destroys most of the germs present. There is no contact between the food and the cooking media so that the food does not dry out and does not absorb liquids or fat, the ingredients are mixed well with each other without losing their flavor. Water is not separated from food as in overcooked meats and yet the loss of fluids is by far less compared to traditional cooking. The aromas do not disperse, they remain inside the product that maintains its organoleptic qualities and tenderness.
Once the food is cut its characteristics are maintained until the time when the bag is reopened, as long as the product is stored at an appropriate temperature without undergoing changes.
In addition to the advantage of improving the characteristics of the food once cooked, there is one, not least, to allow a life time of the product that can vary from 15 to 40 days without stopping and in some cases, improving The organoleptic characteristics of the product.

Food Hygiene

The heat treatment in addition to cooking the food allows a pasteurization that eliminates the vegetative microbial forms. With the pasteurization removes most of the germs. After cooking, cooling must take place as quickly as possible, thermal shock has an effect on hibernation in bacteria present in foodstuffs. Influences on the enzyme reduces its activity to almost 0, thus stopping the natural degradation of food.
From here onwards the temperature will be maintained between 1 ° C and 3 ° C, this way most of the bacterial flora stops growing, spores can not be reproduced, and food maintains its characteristics longer.

From these premises it seems evident that in order to guarantee microbiological conditions and therefore the hygiene of precooked cooked dishes goes up and becomes indispensable not only to work the raw materials in impeccable hygienic conditions and to ensure the correct maintenance of the chain of Cold in all stages of storage, but also own the machines as reliable as possible with a low margin of error in the evaluation of the temperature.

Healthier Foods

In the cooking of the meat, since the temperatures are inferior to 100 ° C, the unsaturated fats are generated. The cooking temperature is controlled by a probe for the heart, this will allow a greater cooking uniformity and therefore a more digestible food.
The natural food flavors have been improved, since the essential oils that give flavor that evaporate with conventional cooking, with the vacuum cooking remain unchanged. Food thus needs less seasoning, less salt and less fat, a very important factor for consumers who are increasingly attentive to these details.