The famous Greek Chef Akis Petretzikis began the month of July on the Holy Mount Athos in the company of Father Epiphanios of the Great Lavra’s Mylopotamos Cell, who is surnamed the Athonite Chef or the Chef of Mount Athos.
Akis Petretzikis is the winner of the 2010 MasterChef cooking competition in Greece and the host of some cooking shows on television, which brought him an international reputation. He is also the author of several recipe books.
Chef Petretzikis posted on his Instagram a picture with Fr Epiphanos, writing that ‘food is not made delicious by the multitude of ingredients, but by the people we have next to us.’
‘Elder Epiphanios of Mylopotamos is the Chef of the Holy Mount… he received us at his cell with Father Joachim, with wine of his production, potato stew, and frozen watermelon. This way you understand that food is not made delicious by the multitude of ingredients, but by the people we have next to us.’
Father Epiphanios
Father Epiphanios is perhaps the most famous Athonite monk together with Abbot Ephraim of Vatopedi, but for quite different reasons.
A connoisseur of the wines produced from the Athonite vineyards and exported all over Europe, Father Epiphanios is also a talented cook with international recipes and the best ambassador of Athonite cuisine abroad.
He enjoyed hearts and stomachs in France, Italy, UK, Spain, Germany, and elsewhere in the world. He cooked at the renowned restaurants all across Europe at the invitation of famous chefs, while his book about the cuisine of the ‘Garden of the Mother of God’ was translated and published in seven languages.
Only at the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos held at Ivirion Monastery he cooks 2.5 tons of fish each year for 4,000 people.
Photo: Instagram
