“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it. We had trained hard, but the competition was really close,” said chef Steve Lentz after winning the Best Vegan Chef title at the prestigious Global Chefs Challenge in late October.
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Lentz is a teacher at the hospitality and tourism school in Diekirch, central Luxembourg, but the culinary competition – which brought together chefs from 40 countries – was held far away this year, in Singapore.
Steve Lentz (left) and his assistant chef Lucas Andrieux (right) recently returned to Luxembourg. © Photo credit: Vatel Luxembourg
Steve Lentz (left) and his assistant chef Lucas Andrieux (right) recently returned to Luxembourg. © Photo credit: Vatel Luxembourg
Having qualified for the final at the European heats in 2023, the Diekirch school this year went on to win his category: vegan cuisine.
“To put it simply, the starter was a mixture of shiso and lemon balm. The main course featured no fewer than 30 different elements. I’m thinking of a turnip pithiviers with lemon verbena or a faux-gras, a vegan foie gras. For dessert, we offered different types of cabbage, including a combination of cauliflower with white chocolate and woodruff. But also a red cabbage and grapefruit sorbet. We played a lot with different textures. The only condition of the competition was that we had to use watercress in different forms,” Lentz said
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Lentz brought with him a number of ingredients harvested in the Grand Duchy to use in his recipes, including mushrooms and herbs, with help from La Provençale and Vatel Luxembourg. “I think they liked the fact we work with local produce. It’s a bit of a current trend in cooking in general. We also made it a point of honour not to waste anything, which is very important in this kind of competition,” Lentz said.
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Steve Lentz was assisted in the final by sous-chef Lucas Andrieux, who works as a sous-chef at Archibald de Prince, the eponymous establishment of the Bocuse d’Or Belgium winner. He is the former second-in-command at La Distillerie, in Bourglinster Castle – which is set to open up in Echternach in November.
Born in Ettelbruck and raised in the sleepy village of Eppeldorf in the Ernz valley, Steve Lentz developed a taste for cooking at an early age. “It all started at a village fest,” he said.
“The grandmothers always used to cook for the event, especially desserts. There was an absolutely delicious home-made pudding. So I wanted to find out how it was made and, one thing leading to another, I became an enthusiast.”
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At the age of 15, he entered the Diekirch hotel school. After graduating three years later, he went on to work in a number of restaurants in the Mullerthal region, and in Germany and Switzerland.
“After passing my master’s exam, one of the judges asked me if I would be interested in a teaching post at the Luxembourg Hotel and Tourism School (EHTL). At first, I wasn’t convinced by the offer, but after seeing the motivation and passion of the young students, I ended up accepting. And today, it’s still the same pleasure.”
As for the love of plant-based cuisine, it came late in life, when he was at hotel management school: “Demand was growing all the time. But there was no one at the EHTL with specific training in this type of cuisine. So I took the plunge. I was curious, especially as my partner follows a plant-based diet.”
An ambassador for plant-based cuisine
Today, Lentz is a true ambassador for plant-based cuisine in Luxembourg. “You can do so many things with all the vegetables and spices at your disposal. I remember that during the competition, with the same ingredients, the vegan chefs were able to create dishes with totally different colours and tastes. At first, some people thought that this cuisine was just a fad. Nonetheless, we’ve come to realise that people who are trying to reduce their meat consumption are turning more towards vegan cuisine.”
Asked whether he is getting ready to represent his country again next year, he replied in the negative: “I give priority to my teaching career. I was lucky enough to be able to prepare for the competition during the school holidays, and I think it’s now up to young people to embark on such an adventure.”
(This article first appeared in Virgule. Translation and editing by Alex Stevensson.)
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Publish date : 2024-10-30 07:44:00
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