Winning MasterChef Slovenija 2025 strengthened her culinary authority and opened doors to projects at the intersection of hospitality, consulting and media.
Credibility - authority
Photo: POP TV
Photo: POP TV
2025
Business impact
Consulting is results-driven: cost optimization, stronger pricing, food-cost control and clear operational processes that increase profit.
F&B consulting - profit
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SELECTED PROJECTS
COLLABORATIONS & MEDIA
01 / 07MasterChef · Media
RECOGNITION
MasterChef Slovenija
TV and digital formats
F&B business consulting
Brands and media campaigns
01/ 07
MasterChef · Media
Winning MasterChef Slovenija 2025 strengthened her culinary authority and opened doors to projects at the intersection of hospitality, consulting and media.
Selected events, workshops and collaborations will be published here once they are confirmed.
There are currently no published upcoming events.
CULINARY & HOSPITALITY CONSULTING
Culinary and hospitality consulting for hotels, restaurants and brands
I build profitable, clear and modern culinary concepts. The focus is business-driven: outcomes, profitability and execution.
Culinary and hospitality consulting: financial advisory, cost optimization, pricing, food cost and business analysis.
Concept & strategy: development of new concepts, repositioning existing projects and designing a clear target-audience experience.
Menu & product development: creating and structuring menus around profit, seasonality and a sustainable approach.
Operational consulting: kitchen and service workflows, process improvement and team training for reliable execution.
Focus: I do not sell theory - I build solutions that produce results and profit.
ABOUT ME
I am Michaela Koplova, also known as Miša, and my culinary path did not begin as a planned career, but as curiosity – a desire to explore flavours, combine ingredients and create something that goes beyond an everyday meal. Early on, I felt that cooking was more than preparing food. It became a way of expressing myself, a space where I can create, experiment and connect people at the same time.
A turning point on this journey was taking part in MasterChef. The competition put me in front of challenges that required total dedication, discipline and the ability to make fast decisions under pressure. Every task, every plate and every critique pushed me beyond my limits. It was through that process that I shaped my style, sharpened my eye for detail and built the confidence I bring into every kitchen today.
Winning MasterChef Slovenija 2025 was not only confirmation of my skills, but the start of a new chapter. It opened the door to professional culinary work, where I can develop my vision at a higher level and collaborate with people who share the same passion for creating.
In my work, I believe food is not only about taste, but a complete experience. Every plate is a story – a combination of idea, technique and feeling. I pay special attention to balance between flavours, textures and visual refinement, because a true culinary experience speaks to all the senses.
My approach is based on a modern interpretation of cuisine, where innovative techniques meet respect for core ingredients. I draw inspiration from different cultures, seasons and everyday moments that I turn into dishes with character. I love creating contrasts – between simple and complex, traditional and modern.
An important part of my work is also my relationship with people. I see cooking as a way of connecting – a moment when people gather, share experiences and create memories. That is why I want every dish to offer not only flavour, but also a sense of warmth, energy and authenticity.
Today I continue my path through different projects, collaborations and culinary experiences. I take part in events, create new concepts and develop ideas that go beyond a classical understanding of cooking. My goal is not only to follow trends, but to help shape them.
Despite all my achievements, I remain true to what drew me in at the beginning – an honest love of food. I believe the best dishes are those born from feeling, not only from a recipe.
My mission: to create cuisine that connects people, opens conversations and leaves an impression that lasts long after the last bite.
Michaela's recipes
RecipesMichaela KoplovaOpen the book
Table of contents
Choose a recipe — the page turns and opens the selected dish.
RECIPE BOOK
Plates that seduce
Welcome to a recipe collection where technique meets creativity, crunch meets elegance, and desserts come with slightly dangerous intentions. These are not dishes for a quick fix. They are recipes for moments when you want to impress, enchant, or simply show that you can create a little culinary drama.
Let every plate tell a story. And let every bite be worth repeating.
AMUSE-BOUCHE
Fried oyster with yuzu gel
A small bite with big character: sea salinity, perfect crunch and a citrus kick.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
12 fresh oysters, 2 egg whites, 100 g panko, oil for frying
Yuzu gel: 100 ml yuzu juice (or lemon juice), 50 ml water, 20 g sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 g agar-agar
To garnish: borage or edible flowers
Method
Combine the juice, water, sugar and agar. Boil for 2 minutes, cool and blend into a gel.
Open and dry the oysters, coat in egg white and panko, then freeze for 20 minutes.
Fry at 170 °C for about 2 minutes.
Plating
Place the oyster on a spoon or shell, add a dot of yuzu gel and finish with the garnish.
A small bite that leaves a very big impression.
COLD STARTER
Venison tartare with goat's cheese cream
Wild, elegant and perfectly balanced.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Tartare: 400 g venison fillet, 1 small shallot, 1 tbsp capers, 2 tbsp olive oil, pyramid salt, freshly ground pepper
Cream: 150 g firm goat's cheese, 150 ml double cream, 3 g agar-agar
Method
Heat the cream, add the cheese and agar, cook for 2 minutes, cool and blend.
Finely chop the meat by hand and gently mix with the shallot, capers and oil. Season just before serving.
Plating
Shape the tartare in a ring and serve with the goat's cheese cream.
Raw, elegant and more seductive than most small talk.
COLD STARTER
Peruvian ceviche with coconut leche de tigre
Freshness, acidity and exotic creaminess.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Ceviche: 200 g scallops, 200 g white fish, 4 limes, 1 chilli, 1 shallot, coriander
Leche de tigre: 80 ml coconut milk, lime juice, garlic, ginger, salt
Parsnip cream: 200 g parsnips, 200 ml cream
Basil oil: basil, oil
Fennel salad: fennel, olive oil
Method
Blanch the basil, blend with oil and strain.
Cook the parsnips and blend with cream.
Blend all the leche de tigre ingredients.
Slice the fish and scallops thinly and dress with the marinade just before serving.
Plating
Cream → ceviche → fennel → basil oil.
This plate has attitude. Rightfully so.
WARM STARTER
Ricotta ravioli with fennel velouté
Silky elegance at its best.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Homemade pasta dough
300 g ricotta
30 ml smoked oil
1 fennel bulb, fennel seeds, butter, flour
Porcini, chanterelles, caramelised walnuts
Method
Prepare the ricotta filling and shape the ravioli.
Sweat the fennel in butter, then add flour and stock for the velouté.
Cook the ravioli just before serving.
Finish with the mushrooms, walnuts and herb oil.
Plating
Spoon the velouté onto the plate, arrange the ravioli on top and finish with mushrooms and walnuts.
Comfort food wearing a tuxedo.
MAIN COURSE
Quail with miso demi-glace and celeriac purée
Deep flavours and perfect texture.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
4 quails
700 g celeriac
250 ml cream
50 g butter
300 ml veal stock
white miso paste, mirin, soy sauce
Method
Roast or boil the celeriac and blend into a smooth purée.
Reduce the veal stock and stir in the miso.
Sear the quails for about 1½ minutes on each side.
Reheat and bring all the elements together just before serving.
Plating
Place the quail on the purée and spoon over the miso demi-glace.
A sauce that makes licking the plate feel entirely reasonable.
SIGNATURE MAIN
Grilled quail with buttered lobster
Where surf meets turf.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
4 quails
2 lobsters
Butter
600 g celeriac
100 ml cream
300 ml veal stock
1 tbsp miso paste
Method
Prepare the celeriac purée.
Reduce the stock and make the miso demi-glace.
Grill the quail for 8–10 minutes.
Quickly sauté the lobster in butter just before serving.
Plating
Bring the purée, quail, lobster and sauce together in one powerful finale.
This dish does not arrive quietly. It makes an entrance.
SEAFOOD
Octopus in a Mediterranean salad
Simplicity that works.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
1 kg octopus
400 g potatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Red onion
Olives
Parsley
Olive oil and lemon
Method
Cook the octopus for about 18 minutes per kilogram.
Cool it in its cooking liquid so it stays tender.
Mix with potatoes, tomatoes, onion and olives.
Season with olive oil and lemon.
Plating
Serve as a clean, juicy Mediterranean salad.
Good octopus should be tender. Like an ego after the third glass of wine.
DESSERT
Miša's fried rice pudding with strawberry gel
A childhood memory with a grown-up finish.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
800 ml milk
200 ml cream
150 g rice
80 g sugar
100 g butter
Flour, eggs, breadcrumbs
250 g strawberries, sugar, agar-agar
Method
Cook the rice pudding and chill overnight.
Shape, bread and fry until golden.
Boil the strawberries with agar and blend into a gel.
Serve immediately to preserve the contrast between crisp and creamy.
Plating
Serve the fried rice pudding with strawberry gel and a scoop of ice cream.
Crunchy outside, creamy inside. A dangerous combination.
DESSERT
Chocolate tart with raspberry gel
Rich, intense and unapologetic.
Ingredients
Shortcrust pastry
200 g dark chocolate
150 ml cream
200 g raspberries
40 g sugar
2 g agar-agar
Method
Bake the pastry until crisp.
Prepare the chocolate ganache and fill the tart.
Cook the raspberries with agar, cool and blend into a gel.
Serve cold or slightly tempered.
Plating
Serve a slice of tart with raspberry gel and vegan lemon ice cream.
This is not a dessert for just one bite.
VEGAN DESSERT
Brownie with white chocolate cream and cassis jus
Proof that vegan never has to mean boring.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Brownie: 150 g almond flour, 200 g brown sugar, 60 g cocoa, 120 ml plant milk, 120 ml coconut oil, vegan chocolate
White cream: 100 g cashews, 100 g vegan white chocolate, plant milk, maple syrup
Cassis jus: 150 g blackcurrants, 50 ml water, sugar, cardamom
Method
Bake the brownie at 180 °C for 22–25 minutes.
Blend the white chocolate cream and chill.
Cook down the cassis jus and strain.
Plating
Plate the brownie, cream and cassis jus.
The dessert that arrives at the end of the evening and still steals the show.
FINE DINING
Sea bass carpaccio with dashi gel and chive oil
A light, technical starter driven by acidity and umami.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Fresh sushi-grade sea bass fillet
Dashi gel: 200 ml dashi, 2 g agar-agar
Chive oil: 100 g chives, 200 ml neutral oil
Radish, fleur de sel, lime zest
Method
Slice the sea bass paper-thin and gently flatten with a rolling pin.
Boil the dashi with agar, cool and blend into a glossy gel.
Blanch the chives, blend with oil at 60 °C and strain.
Plating
Arrange the fish in a circle, then add dashi gel, green oil and radish.
FINE DINING
Sous-vide lamb rack with pea cream
A classic with a modern twist and bold visual contrast.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
French-trimmed lamb rack, butter, garlic, thyme
Pea cream: 300 g young peas, 10 mint leaves, 50 g butter, crème fraîche
Lamb jus: stock, red wine, shallot
Herb powder: dehydrated parsley and panko
Method
Vacuum-seal the lamb and cook at 54 °C for 1½ hours, then sear quickly.
Cook the peas for 2 minutes, blend and pass into a smooth cream.
Reduce the jus to a coating consistency.
Prepare a green powder from parsley and breadcrumbs.
Plating
Swipe the pea cream across the plate, add the lamb, spoon jus over the meat and finish with fresh peas.
FINE DINING
Chocolate ganache with olive oil and sea salt
A decadent dessert: sweet, salty and luxuriously rich.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Ganache: 200 g dark chocolate (70%+), 200 ml cream, 40 ml Istrian olive oil, salt
Cocoa soil: flour, sugar, almonds, cocoa, butter
Smoked-salt ice cream (Maldon)
Garnish: gold leaf or honey tuile
Method
Bring the cream to a boil, pour over the chocolate, add the oil and emulsify. Chill for 4 hours.
Bake the crumble at 170 °C for 15 minutes.
Prepare the smoked-salt ice cream.
Plating
Plate a quenelle of ganache, crumble and ice cream, then add drops of olive oil tableside.
FINE DINING
Black sesame risotto with smoked eel and green apple gel
A contrast between black risotto and vibrant green apple.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Black sesame paste: 100 g sesame, neutral oil
Acquerello or Carnaroli rice, dry vermouth, fish stock, butter, Parmesan
Green apple gel: 200 ml Granny Smith juice, agar, ascorbic acid
Smoked eel or trout, fresh apple cut into julienne
Method
Toast the sesame and blend into a paste.
Cook the risotto with vermouth and stock, then finish by folding in the sesame paste.
Boil the gel mixture, cool and blend.
Dice the eel and warm it with a blowtorch.
Plating
Plate the black risotto with dots of green gel, eel and apple strips.
FINE DINING
Scallop with cauliflower foam and brown butter
A fine-dining classic where the foam's texture is everything.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Fresh scallops
Espuma: 300 g cauliflower, milk, cream, 20 g beurre noisette, siphon (2 CO₂ chargers)
Pickled cauliflower: slices in vinegar, sugar and water (1:1:1)
Hazelnut crumble
Method
Sear the scallops on one side until golden, about 2 minutes, then cook the other side for 10 seconds.
Cook and blend the cauliflower, strain into a siphon and hold at 50 °C.
Marinate the cauliflower in vinegar.
Toast and crush the hazelnuts.
Plating
Spoon the foam onto the plate, then add the scallop, hazelnuts and pickled cauliflower.
FINE DINING
Salt-baked beetroot with pine oil and leek ash
An earthy dish that elevates a simple vegetable to fine-dining level.
Servings · Serves 4
Ingredients
Whole beetroot, coarse salt
Pine oil: fresh needles and oil (60 °C)
Leek ash: green leek tops, roasted until charred
Thick Greek yoghurt, lemon, salt
Method
Bake the beetroot on salt at 180 °C for about 1½ hours, then peel and slice.
Blend the pine needles with oil and strain.
Char the leek at 200 °C and grind to a powder.
Mix the yoghurt with lemon and salt.
Plating
Plate the yoghurt, beetroot and pine oil, then finely sift over the leek ash.
It will look like a work of art.
DESSERT – BONUS
Olive oil ice cream with lemon and honey
Excellent with berries, chocolate ganache or fleur de sel.
Servings · Makes 4–6 portions
Ingredients
300 ml whole milk
200 ml double cream
100 g sugar (or 80 g plus 20 g glucose)
4 egg yolks
120 ml mild olive oil
Zest of 1 organic lemon, a pinch of salt
Method
Heat the milk, cream and lemon zest. Whisk the yolks with sugar and temper them.
Cook to 82 °C without boiling.
At 40 °C, slowly whisk in the olive oil to form a glossy emulsion.
Chill for 6 hours and churn in an ice-cream machine.
Plating
Serve a scoop with berries or ganache and fleur de sel.
INTERMEZZO – BONUS
Savoury olive oil ice cream with basil
Serve as an intermezzo or with hot tomato consommé or beef tartare.
Servings · Makes 4–6 portions
Ingredients
400 ml full-fat yoghurt
100 ml double cream
100 ml robust olive oil
15 g honey, 8 g salt, 5 g basil
2 g ice-cream stabiliser (optional)
Method
Blend the yoghurt, cream, honey, salt and basil.
Slowly blend in the olive oil to create a thick green emulsion.
Strain and churn in an ice-cream machine.
Plating
An 'Olive and tomato' pairing: confit tomatoes, ice cream, balsamic and a sourdough crisp.
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COLLABORATIONS & MEDIA
Collaborations & Media
Selected partnerships and references at the intersection of culinary work, hospitality, media projects and brand collaborations.
Photo: POP TV
Photo: POP TV
Photo: POP TV
