{"id":291584,"date":"2025-10-30T09:40:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/?p=291584"},"modified":"2025-10-30T09:46:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:46:41","slug":"theo-kopp-i-was-better-than-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/theo-kopp-i-was-better-than-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"Th\u00e9o Kopp: \u201cI was better than myself\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Milan, KACHEN met Th\u00e9o Kopp, the candidate who took part in the San Pellegrino Young Chef Academy world final for Luxembourg and the \u201cWest Europe\u201d group on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 October 2025. <\/strong>Here are his reactions from Tuesday morning, right after appearing before the jury, alongside his mentor, two-star chef Cyril Molard from\u00a0Ma Langue Sourit<\/em>. Ardy Ferguson, the candidate from the \u201cAsia\u201d group, won the competition on Wednesday night.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you feel during Tuesday morning\u2019s round, when you presented your dish \u201cPot\u00e9e lorraine, Picon and mirabelle\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00e9o KOPP:<\/strong> \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I was stressed, but I did feel good pressure. I was excited, eager to get started and to present this dish that\u2019s very dear to me. I was full of motivation. I had a few small issues during the process, a few steps I had to redo, but nothing major.\u201d
\u201cEverything turned out just as I wanted \u2013 even better, actually. I\u2019d trained a lot on this dish, and I think it was the best version I\u2019ve ever made. I was really happy with the timing; I managed to take my time with everything.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I wanted today wasn\u2019t necessarily to be better than the others, but better than myself. Because being better than others, when the dishes are all so different, doesn\u2019t always make sense. Today I fought myself \u2013 and at that level, I won.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Chef<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Wooden<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Chef<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The oral presentation of your dish was also a key part of the final. What kind of questions did the jury ask you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00e9o KOPP:<\/strong> \u201cThey asked fairly straightforward questions, and I could answer on the spot. The mirabelle plum in my dish is a very seasonal product. They asked what I would do if it wasn\u2019t in season. And in fact, it isn\u2019t at the moment, so I worked with preserved, fermented fruit. We were allowed to bring all kinds of fermented products, so back in August, during mirabelle season, I prepared everything for long-term preservation to be able to use it today.\u201d
\u201cIt was the same with the kimchi \u2013 it\u2019s a product I really love. I\u2019m a big fan of umami flavours and Japanese-style cuisine. I often cook with cabbage. Kimchi is Korean, but cabbage fermentation is common all across Asia. And when you think about it, in the Grand Est, sauerkraut is also a kind of kimchi \u2013 it\u2019s fermented cabbage. So it felt quite natural to include that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Chef<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Gourmet<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How important is terroir in your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00e9o KOPP:<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s the most important thing. People often ask me what my cooking style is. I\u2019m someone who has travelled a lot, and I love cooking locally and seasonally.
That works perfectly for me because when I travel, I can adapt to my surroundings. Wherever I go, I cook with what\u2019s around me. Cooking brings people together \u2013 it\u2019s more than food, it\u2019s energy, a pure form of love and expression. I\u2019ve visited many countries that are \u2018poorer than Europe\u2019, less consumption-driven. These are places where people are proud of their products, help each other, and create genuine synergies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you enjoy exploring other cuisines from around the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00e9o KOPP:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve explored quite a few. French cuisine, of course, since I\u2019m French [from Metz, editor\u2019s note], but also German cuisine since I live very close to the border. My girlfriend is Italian, so I\u2019ve done a lot of Italian cooking \u2013 which shares many similarities with French cuisine, especially in its simplicity and product focus. I\u2019m very influenced by Japanese and Asian cuisine more broadly \u2013 I love umami, bold flavours, and fermentation.
I also spent time in South America and was deeply inspired by Peru and Colombia, by the richness of their produce. I even lived on R\u00e9union Island for six months, where you find fruits and vegetables from all over the world \u2013 everything grows there!\u201d
\u201cI love discovering different cuisines like that, and when I need to, I adapt techniques and flavours to the ingredients I have around me. That\u2019s exactly what I did today with my dish. Many of the techniques and elements I use come from elsewhere, but I\u2019ve brought them home to Lorraine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did you think of the 14 other competitors\u2019 dishes from around the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00e9o KOPP:<\/strong> \u201cThe level was absolutely stratospheric \u2013 really impressive. Such incredible diversity! And since we didn\u2019t have a common theme or ingredient, everything was completely different.
I\u2019m glad I wasn\u2019t in the jury\u2019s place, because I honestly don\u2019t know how they\u2019ll decide. Everything was of such high quality, everything looked delicious, and there were so many beautiful ideas. It was truly a pleasure to meet and share with people so passionate about their craft.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think there should be a stronger focus on plant-based cuisine?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00e9o KOPP:<\/strong> \u201cThe world of haute cuisine is still very attached to [animal] proteins, even though there are now restaurants like Ren\u00e9 Mathieu\u2019s in Luxembourg, which has been named the best plant-based restaurant in the world. Personally, I no longer cook or eat meat at home, though I still work with it a lot professionally.\u201d
\u201cI see incredible diversity in plant-based cooking. I draw a lot of inspiration from the Middle East, from Indian, African and South American cuisines. You can do so much with plants alone \u2013 there\u2019s such a wealth of flavours in vegetables. In the end, meat is almost always accompanied by vegetables; it\u2019s rare to cook a protein entirely on its own. The trend is reversing, and that inspires me a lot.\u201d
\u201cAnd that\u2019s true even though I chose to make <\/em>Pot\u00e9e lorraine<\/em> today \u2013 a dish deeply rooted in pork \u2013 but not only. My pork comes from Guy Kirsch in Luxembourg; it\u2019s the element that elevates the dish. But the core ingredients of the <\/em>pot\u00e9e<\/em> \u2013 cabbage, carrot, onion and potato \u2013 those never change.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Milan, KACHEN met Th\u00e9o Kopp, the candidate who took part in the San Pellegrino Young Chef Academy world final for Luxembourg and the \u201cWest Europe\u201d group on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 October 2025. Here are his reactions from Tuesday morning, right after appearing before the jury, alongside his mentor, two-star chef Cyril Molard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":291707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Th\u00e9o Kopp: Techniques de cuisine raffin\u00e9es | KACHEN","_seopress_titles_desc":"D\u00e9couvrez l'expertise culinaire de Th\u00e9o Kopp. Apprenez comment am\u00e9liorer vos comp\u00e9tences en cuisine avec ses conseils et techniques exceptionnels.","_seopress_robots_index":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4526,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-291584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culinary-news","8":"category-uncategorized","9":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291584"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291791,"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291584\/revisions\/291791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanguards.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}