Joachim Koerper has just celebrated the 50th anniversary of his career. The chef was born in 1952, in the German city of Saarbrücken, on Christmas Day. Following an initial experience in restaurants in his home country, he moved to France. For over twenty years, he worked in some of the best restaurants in Europe, in a veritable constellation of experiences: Bernard Pacaud's three star L'Ambroise in Paris, Roger Vergé's three star Moulin de Mougins on the French Riviera, and at two star Guy Savoy in Paris, among many others. Along the way he cooked for Princess Caroline of Monaco and Christina Onassis.
It was in Spain, at the Girasol that Joachim earned his first Michelin star. In 2004, he chose Portugal to live in, by joining the kitchen at the new Eleven, where he earned his first star for Lisbon after just one year. Since moving here, Joachim has been responsible for training various chefs, and since 2007 he has been a consultant chef at Herdade da Malhadinha Nova. To pay tribute to this half-century career, we went on to discover seven secret things about Joachim Koerper.
1. Joachim is German, but he doesn´t drink beer.
2. He loves cooking fish and seafood but prefers to eat meat. T-bone on a Josper or on the grill, matured Waguy with potato and cucumber salad are his two favourite meals.
3. Joachim is terrified of heights. He has even fainted a few times on planes, although he has several stamps in his passport. He even considered a career as a pilot, but this phobia and his special relationship with cooking eventually led him down the path of gastronomy.
4. On his first day as an apprentice cook 50 years ago in the Konstance restaurant in Germany, he almost quit after peeling 30 kilos of onions.
5. Joachim speaks eight languages: French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and the chef playfully jokes, "Portunhol".
6. The German chef is a real star-maker. Some of the chefs who have passed through his kitchens have achieved Michelin stars after leaving. Examples are: Ricardo Costa (The Yeatman**), Jordi Esteve (Nectari*), José Lopes (Bon Bon*), among many others.
7. For two years the chef had restaurants on four ships of the Silver Sea company, treasuring that time with fondness.