The Cuisine of the Holy Mountain Athos


The book contains one hundred twenty-six recipes, the most representative of which the monks of Mount Athos are accustomed to, whose diet excludes meat, white and red. The monks of Mount Athos fast for two hundred days annually, so their diet is modified accordingly. The author, addressing to his readers, emphasizes that what he seeks for them is to pay more attention to the traditional Greek cuisine, the so-called Mediterranean. "The food that our parents and ancestors prepared and ate. This is the Mount Athos cuisine, which I learned to cook for thirty-three years. Experts describe it as healthy, Mediterranean, dietary, etc., I do not know how to call it… You can name it as you wish, monk, monastic, Mount Athos or traditional. What is important is the proven effect of lowering triglycerides and cholesterol. It also contributes to lower blood pressure, while at the same time it reduces other harmful elements."

This fully illustrated book is divided into three parts: a) Fish, b) Legumes and oily and c) Mollusc and Shellfish. Instead of an introduction, the recipes are preceded by two texts of Theodoros Ioannidis and Thanasis Georgiadis, and are followed by an informative addendum (Mount Athos) for the reader who does not know the Orchard of Virgin Mary. Texts from the Fathers, proverbs and other soul-benefitial scripts are inserted between the recipes, embellishing them appropriately.

The author


Monk Epifanios of Mylopotamos, after spending several years in the Holy Monastery of Saint Pavlos, decided to continue his monastic life in the Holy Seat of Saint Eustatius - Mylopotamos in 1990. He was fortunate enough to be taught the Byzantine music by older monks in Agios Pavlos, he became a good chanter and at the same time, he was assigned the service of a cook. He was a sought after chef.

In Mylopotamos, he restored the historic cell, giving it a new life. At the same time, with absolute respect to the long tradition, he planted a vineyard and built a winery.
In the 30 years of his monastic life in Mylopotamos, until 2020 when he passed away, he excelled as a top cook, highlighting with his recipes the Mount Athos Mediterranean diet and at the same time, producing the branded organic wines of Mount Athos “Metochi Mylopotamos”.

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