Her name's Rosalba
and she comes from a small village in southern Italy.
She's not just physically strong,
she also has a cast-iron determination.
It all comes from sweat and hard work.
There is no "I can't do it", "I don't want to do it".
There is only great determination
in everything we do and a desire to make it.
It may not look it,
but I bet this dish is on the flavourless side.
All experiences in life are useful.
Got it, Rosalba!
We're gonna introduce you to Heinz Beck,
the Julius Caesar of Italian chefs
who's gonna teach you
some quick and easy meal-making tips!
Welcome to Transform My Meal.
Judo has saved me.
It has certainly made me a better person.
It has shown me the importance of work.
It showed me sacrifice
and did not weigh heavy on me.
I am Rosalba Forciniti. I am 30 years old.
My favourite sport is judo. I do judo.
My most important medal dates back to four years ago,
the last Olympics, in London...
..where I earned myself a bronze medal.
The next morning, when I woke up,
I thought it had all been a dream,
that I had won this fantastic medal.
But when I opened the drawer and saw the medal there,
I was slapping myself to say "I'm awake! I'm really awake!".
We know that an athlete's diet is tough. Why is that?
Because you have to come into a weight category.
If you don't come into it,
if you're 52 kg and 20 grams, you're out.
Wow. So what do you cook, then?
One of my specialities is Mediterranean-style cod.
How would you like Heinz Beck to help you out today?
Yes, I'd like to ask him this.
I'd like to ask him how to do Mediterranean-style cod.
A new way of doing it.
A good question. I have a good question for him.
Before Heinz answers that, we'd be interested to know
exactly what toll this sport takes on your body.
It must be a heavy one. Let's see.
(NUTRITIONAL FACTS)
Don't be misled by her angelic looks.
Rosalba Forciniti is pure strength.
Like any good judoka,
her body contains little fat and lots of muscle mass,
enabling her to make agile, explosive movements.
In order to beat her opponents,
Rosalba has to train both her concentration
and her strength and stamina,
so she needs to follow a carbohydrate-rich diet.
She also has to pay special attention to hydration
so as not to lose weight
and to stop her body losing the ability to dissipate heat.
Moreover, replenishing liquids
helps reduce the risk of injury.
Being a woman, Rosalba
has to regularly eat meals rich in iron.
Food like this helps her to keep her energy levels high.
She also needs vitamin D,
to balance out the fact that she trains indoors
and she doesn't get much sun exposure.
Rosalba, what you got there?
Meat? Fish? Difficult to say.
Drop that fork and come with us to the hilltop restaurant
of the Julius Caesar of Italian chefs - Heinz Beck! Let's go!
Rome, the eternal city,
the capital of Italy,
where beauty, culture and history collide.
The magic Coliseum and Emperor Titus' Arch
are just a couple of the things that make this a perfect place
to live, as this German chef knows only too well.
It's here, on a hill overlooking the city
that he has set up his very own gastronomic monument.
It's too difficult to sum up his illustrious career here,
so let's see a few quotes from Heinz.
(I AM HALFWAY BETWEEN AN ARTIST AND A CRAFTSMAN.)
(I COULD GO WITHOUT A MEAL)
(BUT NOT WITHOUT FRUIT OR VEGETABLES)
I specialise in light,
healthy Mediterranean cuisine.
Lunchtime must, in any case, be a pleasure.
And just how do we get that pleasure?
Through a careful choice of ingredients
and cooking styles,
I can prepare lunches that are easy to digest.
Perfect, but today you're gonna have a very special client.
Rosalba is an athlete who has to follow a very strict diet.
I have a great many athletes
who come to eat dinner in my restaurant in the evening.
They come in, they eat and they are happy.
Pretty tasty, our little programme, isn't it, chef?
I think that this is a very good idea.
Now we need to see what Rosalba has brought for me.
Then I'll take a look at her lunch
and see how we can make it a little tastier.
Ready! We're going to meet Rosalba. Show her in!
Rosalba, I'm very pleased to meet you.
Hello. How do you do?
Rosalba, don't shake his hand too hard,
we need his fingers in one piece.
We haven't started yet!
Chef, I have a big problem here. Look.
OK, let's see what we have here. Is this your diet?
Yes.
OK, it's a little sad but let's see what we can do.
At least the flavour isn't too bad.
- It isn't? - No, no.
Will you help me?
I think it's a good base for a very good dish.
- Yay! - Let's start.
- Let's start then! - Let's start.
(HAKE ON A BED OF MEDITERRANEAN PERFUMES)
I brought some vegetables, fish...
for a recipe based on what you brought for me.
Cut it all up into small pieces.
OK, go on, then.
Let's get to work.
So chef, I'm curious.
When you go on a picnic,
if you do go on picnics,
what do you take in your basket?
I take a good bottle of champagne
or some cool wine.
OK, no dessert?
- Fresh fruit. - Fresh fruit.
But do you have a favourite dessert?
Tiramisù.
Me too!
Can you cut this into cubes too,
- slightly larger than these? - Me?
Yes, you did the potato.
Rosalba, what about you?
When did you start sport and when did you start judo?
I started out as a chef aged eight.
Yes, but why did you choose to do this?
Did you have someone in your family or a friend who did it?
Because in the town I grew up in,
there was only one gym and that was all that was on offer.
Fate.
There's only one gym in the town,
it only does judo and you become a champion. Fantastic.
We prepare the sauce for the vegetables by heating
the tomatoes on a low flame
so they don't lose their goodness.
But what was the first dish you cooked as a child?
As a child? I didn't want to be a chef.
I wanted to be a painter.
So my first dish came late in life,
when I started working in the kitchen.
My first dish was an apple strudel, a dessert.
Rosalba, will you peel this for me?
No, I can't, chef. I don't know how to peel that.
OK, not to worry.
We peel the pepper and chop up the courgettes and the olives.
(COURGETTES HAVE ZERO CALORIES AND FOR THAT REASON
(IT'S MAINLY BENEFICIAL FOR THE ORGANISM)
- What's your favourite dish? - I love pasta.
Pasta in all shapes and sizes.
I love it with tomato.
Tortellini-shaped pasta. Mmm... Pure art!
I'm going to put the olive oil on the fish.
Just the amount of oil you need
to stop it sticking to the pan.
Good tip, chef! Noted!
(HAKE IS A VERY LIGHT, WHITE FISH,)
(PERFECT FOR WEIGHT CONTROL)
We're gonna cook the vegetables slowly with the tomato sauce.
Let's get our dish ready.
To plate it up, we place the fish on a bed of vegetables.
And the final touch - fresh herbs.
Look how we started today.
Rosalba had the nerve to show chef Heinz Beck
her cold, tasteless, white fish.
But with a little team-work, victory was guaranteed.
The same ingredients, different results.
A really tasty hake
on a bed of aromatic Mediterranean vegetables.
Mission accomplished!
- With vegetables, right? - Of course.
Herbs.
And you'll see that the herb too,
now you've eaten it with this very fresh herb,
which I'll give you more of, it opens up your taste buds
and allows you to savour the individual flavours even more.
Wonderful. You've really helped.
- Can I give you a hug? - Yes, of course!
Rosalba! We said hug him, not mug him!
- Thank you! - My pleasure!