Pizza ovens for those wanting to be like the Beckhams

A two-family business based in Preston and Italy, has worked to get through the coronavirus pandemic so that foodies in Britain can this summer master a new culinary skill unlike anything taught in the classroom – the art of woodfired cookery. 

Whilst the challenges are most definitely there this year, the business is at least able to tell new customers that they could join illustrious names on the client list, with new additions David and Victoria Beckham being just two of the names that wow potential customers.

Undaunted by the obstacles currently that have faced most businesses, Valoriani UK – a supplier of top-notch Valoriani pizza ovens and a business jointly owned by the Manciocchi family in the UK and the Valoriani family in Tuscany – has offered online tuition in wood-fired cookery, using video conferencing technology to reach out to current customers wanting a little help and inspiration. 

During lockdown it also started a waiting list for the iconic ‘Fornino’ oven – the first baby oven Valoriani ever produced for a domestic market anywhere in the world. This was created at the request of Andrew Manciocchi, when he left the Jamie Oliver empire and resurrected the pizza oven business he had run prior to selling out to the TV chef. 

The igloo-shaped baby oven has been increasingly seen as the answer to ‘what to do during lockdown’ by bored lockdown Brits seeking something challenging and absorbing to fill their day. With extra time on their hands, they see they have an opportunity to master skills that will enable them to cook anything from pizza to a Christmas dinner in the oven, once they become confident with becoming oven fire starters.

But other popular choices are proving to be DIY pizza kits, which allow the homeowner to create a garden installation and do all the work around the Valoriani oven shell themselves.  For many, this is the perfect distraction during lockdown.

Learning how to cook with wood is very much about mastering the lighting of kindling and logs, the moving of wood around the oven and the pushing hot coals to heat the oven floor. It’s then all about waiting for the sweet spot to appear  – the white spot on the blackened dome top that signals the oven is almost up to temperature.  All of this takes time and practice.

Given that much of the skill in fire lighting is found in older generations, there is little wonder that many families are viewing a Fornino as a perfect purchase for their parents, as well as themselves.  Even if parties cannot be held around the oven at present, one or two people can still have the satisfaction of turning dishes out of the oven and allowing it to warm the garden on cooler spring, summer and even autumn evenings.

Another plus for buyers is that, even if they are based in a Smoke Control Area, they can use a Valoriani oven without fear of environmental health fines because, unlike many other ovens, it has DEFRA approval and certification. 

The Manciocchi and Valoriani families have been on a two-decade journey together which started when Andrew stumbled across the ovens in Tuscany.  Having fallen in love with them, he had a “mad” dream of introducing pizza ovens into the UK, back in 2002/3.  His first break came when celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow were early adopters and when he was asked to build a garden installation around a Valoriani oven, for TV chef Jamie Oliver.

From there, he sold out to the Jamie empire and enjoyed a few years cooking with Jamie and other top chefs, sharing his own knowledge of wood-fired cookery. In 2015, however, he decided to go into business with his friend Massimo Valoriani and allow his son Dino and Massimo’s daughter Viola, to become involved in the two-family enterprise as directors.

Just as the market has matured to the point at which the consumer is recognising that you get what you pay for with a pizza oven, and is rejecting the throwaway lifestyle and opting for well-built items like Valoriani ovens, which have longevity, the coronavirus situation has shaken economies worldwide and forced the temporary closure of the artisan-focused factory in Reggello.  

The Valoriani family has been making refractory clay products since 1890 and the factory is situated close to the quarry where they discovered the precious ‘cotto’ clay that has enabled their ovens to have a reputation that has never been surpassed.  Notably, it was after another crisis – World War II – that the family were asked to make pizza ovens – an answer to food shortages in Italy’s south. Since then it has become a site of great ingenuity and craftsmanship, focused on pizza ovens for domestic and commercial use across the globe.

Such are the skills of the team there, they have even managed to get the fastidious AVPN (Associazione di Vera Pizza Napoletana), the guardians of World Heritage status Real Neapolitan Pizza, to certify that a Valoriani gas-fired, as well as the traditional wood-fired pizza oven, is being capable of cooking Neapolitan pizza to their exacting requirements – although only after years of development and blind-tasting sessions!

Andrew Manciocchi says: “Every cloud has a silver lining and I think this is the year in which people are falling in love with both their gardens and cookery.  Luckily, we have pizza ovens, ranging from the Fornino and DIY oven kits, to larger garden ovens that can become bespoke builds, to any design.  This is the type of installation we have built for the Beckhams, Jamie Oliver, James Martin and, also very recently, racehorse trainer Chris McSharry.

“Cooking with wood is an art and learning to make flames and hot coals do what you wish and create a perfectly infused dish, cooked with the flavour that can only come from a woodfired oven, delivers a huge sense of achievement.  There are also the mental health benefits that come through focus and mindfulness on the task in hand and also processes such as hand-stretching dough for pizzas, although a woodfired oven can cook anything that can be cooked by a conventional oven or a grill and not just pizza. 

“Ironically, this could turn out to be a great year for us, if a passion for outdoor living, cooking and dining is sustained and if the throw-away culture becomes so distasteful to people that they say “no” to pizza ovens which offer much, but which fall apart after a year and have to be replaced again and again. A Valoriani oven will last at least 10 years, if used correctly, so our buyers in 2020 could still be turning great dishes out of their oven in 2030. Perhaps they will look back on this year as that unprecedented time in which they learned how to cook with wood and a real flame.”

More information is available at www.valorianiuk.com                                                

Ends

Editors notes

Valoriani UK is the UK arm of Valoriani, based in Reggello, Tuscany - the manufacturer of Italy's hugely respected Valoriani pizza ovens, known as the Rolls Royce of pizza ovens and the kings of clay. These ovens are made from superb refractory clay - cotto clay - found in the family's quarry and unique, thanks to having just the right alumina. This allows Valoriani ovens to heat up quickly and retain heat superbly. Consequently, Valoriani's home garden ovens (built-in and mobile) and kitchen ovens, and its range of restaurant and mobile/street-food ovens are best in class and the choice of leading chefs and celebrities.