The Cuisine of the Holy Mountain Athos by Monk Epifanios O Milopotaminos (Credit: T2G Photo Library)

Monk Epifanios’ cookbook: The Cuisine of the Holy Mountain Athos

A hundred twenty six recipes, containing all the secrets of the macrobiotic diet, that the monks of Holy Mountain Athos follow for centuries

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As people are getting interested in healthy food, the diet of Mountain Athos or Agion Oros as known in Greek, is gaining the popularity it deserves. An Orthodox spiritual centre since 1054, Mount Athos (the “garden of the Virgin Mary”) in northern Greece has enjoyed an autonomous statute since Byzantine times. The steep slopes of the “Holy Mountain” are punctuated by twenty imposing monasteries and their subsidiary establishments.

The landscape reflects traditional monastic farming practices, which maintain populations of plant species that have now become rare in the region. “The Cuisine of the Holy Mountain Athos” by Elder Epiphanios of Mylopotamos, the Greek monk who first brought Mountain Athos cuisine to the world, is far more than a cook book. It is a journey into the world of Greek culinary heritage and faith.

It includes two introductions, one hundred and twenty-six recipes prepared by Mountain Athos monks-whose diet excludes white and red meat- and is divided into three parts: a) Fish b) Pulses and olive oil dishes, and c) Mollusks and crustaceans.

Monastic chants, biblical excerpts and other soul-beneficial texts accompany each of the recipes, as well as beautiful photographs of cooking at monasteries. There is also an overview of the culinary art of Byzantium and its influences on us today. 

“To the dishes our parents and our ancestors prepared and ate. This is the Athonite cuisine I’ve learned to cook for thirty three years. Experts described it as being healthy, Mediterranean, dietetic etc. I do not know how to describe it. You may describe it as you wish, monastic, monk’s diet, Athonite or traditional. What is important is that it has been certified that it has less triglycerides and cholesterol, helps lower blood pressure, while it reduces other harmful effects.”

(Elder Epiphanios of Mylopotamos, cookbook author. Credit: mountathos_eshop.com)

In an interview ten years ago with the newspaper “Ta Nea”, after being asked how he got involved in cooking, Epiphanios, who was known to his friends as the head chef of Mountain Athos, replied “I liked to stand next to my mother and see how she cooked, to taste and smell the food, to peel potatoes and generally to help her. I was the only one of the five brothers who did that.”

Epiphanios was born and raised in Nikisiani, Kavala regional unit, northern Greece in 1956. As soon as he turned 18, he became a monk on the autonomous monastic state of Mountain Athos in the Monastery of Agios Pavlos. After 18 years of his stay there, he settled in the Seat of Agios Efstathios, “Mylopotamos”, a dependency of the Holy Monastery of Megiste Lavra. He made it well-known across the world as a center of Athonite cooking and gastronomy as with absolute respect to the long tradition, he planted a vineyard and built a winery.

(Elder Epiphanios of Mylopotamos Credit: @cookoovaya Instagram page)

“Epiphanios opened Mount Athos monasticism internationally. When he arrived in Mylopotamos, which after receiving in ruins, he turned it into one of the jewels of Mount Athos. For his activities, mainly in cooking, many documentaries were made that were shown and are still shown to this day in dozens of countries abroad” a statement by the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency said.

His favorite ingredients in the kitchen? “When I do not have onions, I feel like my hands are tied. I also use oil and lemon regularly and I love wine, which is food, it is not drunk for pleasure”. Epiphanios’ advice to an amateur cook? “Do not add too much salt because it does not come out of the food.”

Epiphanios passed away in December 2020 at the age of 64. The Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity Church, in Crete’s Chania, said in a statement about his passing: “A traditional giant of Mount Athos monasticism has left, a good and kind friend, a man who made Mount Athos even better known to people, by offering them perfect wine and food of his goodness and love! The Mylopotamos of Mount Athos is crying. We are sad. Thank you for everything Fr. Epiphanios, good heavens!”

His work, however, remains. The book, which became a best-seller in Greece, has been translated into English, Spanish, German, Russian, Romanian, and Bulgarian.

Watch the video: Opson and Psalm – Giant Beans – Stuffed Oily Peppers – Leek Soup | ERT

(Credit: ERT Greek public broadcast service)

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