How Julia Komp became Germany's youngest female Michelin star at 27

How many of us can say we live a life of purpose? In simpler terms, purpose can be regarded as something you do for a living that marries your passion to service — to the society. And if it pays your bills, then nothing like it. Most people don’t realise what their purpose is until their old age or even at all. While purpose stems from a wider need to serve people around you, it starts from a personal place. The place of passion. It’s also where the problem lies. Most people don’t know what they feel strongly or passionately about, which, in turn, stops them from finding their purpose. What if we were part of a system that helped us uncover this facet? Perhaps, an education system that guided us to discover our interests instead of dictating, through limited mechanisms, which route to take?

In 2016, Julia Komp became the youngest Michelin star chef of Germany, acquiring the accolade at the age of 27. The feat of becoming a young starred chef was perhaps made possible due to many factors at play but a prominent one, which stands out is, she did not waste many years in a job that did not motivate her, only to realise in her midlife what her calling really was. “I discovered my passion for cooking through my education. In Germany, once we begin our A levels, we’re encouraged to seek work experience where we do a month of school, followed by a couple of months of work experience and so on. This was a crucial time for me as I was always on the lookout for places where I could learn new and exciting things,” says Komp, who was recently in Dubai to host a Chef’s Table at Jubilee Gastronomy, Expo 2020 Dubai. Through her work experience, Komp happened to find an Austrian restaurant, with a German-Austrian kitchen and a Michelin star, where she embarked on her journey of becoming a world-renowned chef.

Komp, who realised her passion of cooking through a series of work experiences, doesn’t hail from a family of chefs or any related background in the food and beverage industry. “My family had nothing to do with gastronomy,” says Komp. “My parents have their own business, which isn’t anything related to food. But my grandparents had a travel agency. I always travelled with them and ate with them. I used to love tasting different cuisines,” says the German chef, adding that her original dream was to actually work in a hotel. “When I was 14, I decided to get some work experience in a hotel. They put me in room service but it was too boring to put water in the minibar.” When Komp was placed in the kitchen, it immediately clicked for her. “The kitchen was amazing. I went with my own knives that my father had given me. Back then things like avocados weren’t so common in Germany but when I was asked to get them from the fridge, I’d always get it right. They were very amazed. I immediately felt at home,” she adds.

The young chef never fathomed she’d be awarded a Michelin star at such a young age. “It all happened very quickly. It was a wish, of course, but I was not expecting it,” says Komp. “I took over the kitchen as the chef de cuisine was leaving and I was the sous chef. I was hesitant to take the place because at the time, I wanted to travel around and had different plans. But then I thought to myself, I needed to take this chance. After one year, I got my first Michelin star,” adds the 32-year-old chef.

Crediting her early success as a star chef, Komp mentions how her formative years as a trainee in Michelin star restaurants cemented her foundations in the craft of cooking. “As a trainee, I’d make lunch and dinner for the staff as they had to eat before the guests started coming in. The food needed to be ready at 12 o’clock. One thing I learned very early on is that if food is served late, people get very angry,” says Komp.

She also learned in her traineeship that the basics of a dish were imperative to maintain its authenticity. “My boss would always say, unless we knew how to cook something at the basic level, we could never cook at the molecular level. He’d say, ‘Before you make caviar out of a dish, you need to know the basics and the origins of the dish. Once you perfect the original, then you can create your own style.’ This stayed in my mind and I learned how to cook classic dishes,” she recounts.

Sharing some of her early experiences as a chef, Komp adds, “It was all men everywhere. In all the restaurants, the kitchen was always male-dominated. The girls were usually serving.” So, how did the young cuisinier navigate the male-dominated environment? “It really depends on the place you start with. I was lucky because it was a smaller kitchen, and the team was very respectful. I didn’t have the experiences that other women face,” says Komp. “I had a good friend who was working in a hotel and she used to tell me it was very difficult for her because there were a lot of men in the kitchen, who’d always get angry,” adds the chef.

“They were always screaming, throwing pots and pans, and abusing verbally, similar to what we hear about chefs’ kitchens. In the end, she had to give up her job because it was terrible.” Komp, in her own kitchen, has been conscious to stay away from inculcating that hostile environment. “If someone makes a mistake, you don’t need to make them feel bad about themselves by abusing and screaming. Anyone can make mistakes. You need to tell them how to improve and find out other ways to teach them differently. You don’t have to make them feel useless. It has nothing to do with their personality.”

When asked if things have progressed over the last few years, the chef responds, “Things are changing slowly and if they aren’t, we need to actively change ourselves. What’s happening now is, at least in Germany, we don’t have many young people who want to be chefs and in service,” she adds. “Something needs to change urgently. For instance, we need normal working hours and the extra hours need to be paid for. We are always working overtime and if this continues, there will be nobody willing to work in the kitchen or in the services anymore.”

Does Komp’s kitchen reflect her ethos? “We have five women in the kitchen. They’re from all across the world. Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Peru, Turkey, and even India. We’re very female-driven and multicultural. We start around 2pm and work till around 11pm. That can be classified as normal timings. We make sure we pay them well and give them adequate leaves and two-day weekends.”

The star chef decided to give up her position as chef de cuisine and her Michelin star, at Schloss Loersfeld, in Kerpen, Germany, after almost four years of helming the starred restaurant. “When I got my Michelin star, I was only 27. I felt there was more to learn. I never worked in a two-star or a three-star kitchen. So, I decided to pack my bags and travel to Asia. I was always cooking Asian style so I thought it would be the best place to start,” says the German chef. “For example, Kimchi is very strange for Germans. The fermentation process is something we don’t know of. There was no way to know how it was supposed to taste or if I’m doing it right. I thought to myself, how can I make Kimchi in my restaurant when I’ve never tasted the original? That’s why I decided to go to Asia.