Nikolaos Tselementes, the godfather of Greek moussaka, embarked on a culinary crusade in the 1920s. Armed with his cookbook, he sought to exorcise the "contaminating" influences of centuries of Ottoman rule from Greek kitchens.
Tag: Nikolaos Tselementes
The word "tselemente" draws its associations from Nikolaos Tselementes, considered the most influential chef in Greek history. Born in 1878 on the island of Sifnos, Tselementes later studied cooking in Vienna and worked in the U.S. before returning to Greece. In 1932, he published Odigos Mageirikis, the first complete cookbook in Greece, where recipes—up until that point—had typically been handed down orally. The book was a commercial bonanza, so much so that Odigos Mageirikis had 15 official reprints in the decades following.