Tselementes - The father of modern Greek Cuisine

Hello!Nikolaos Tselementes. His name is what every Greek says when talking about cookbook. "Did you look at the Tselementes for your recipe"? Indeed when I was growing up i thought that a guide to cooking, or a book with recipes was called "Tselementes"! :-)On his death in 1958, the impression one is most likely to get from the statements of such well-known men of letters and esteemed journalists writing about him, is that before Tselementes there was chaos in the Greek kitchen. Idle, ignorant women who very little about cooking forced their poor husbands to live on one bad meal after another, a Situation that often resulted in divorce… Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. The unanimous adoration for the author of the first complete cookbook written in modern Greek, and based on French cooking, was the result of a sweeping trend that started at the turn of the century. This trend was created by the rich and travelled upper classes —- especially those wealthy Greeks living in the Egyptian cities of Cairo and Alexandria - who, imitating their English and French neighbours, were eager to leave their Eastern past behind and become Europeans.Nothing of course is further from the truth!But let's find out about the life and legacy of this colossus of the modern Greek kitchen!Enjoy!ThomSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

A Greek Gourmand, travels through time...Imagine yourself dining with Socrates, Plato, or Pythagoras! What tasty morsels of food accompanied the conversations of these most significant minds in Western philosophy?Now picture yourself as you sat for a symposium with Cicero, or Pliny the Elder or Julius Caesar. The opulent feasts of the decadent Romans!Maybe, you're following Alexander the Great during his military campaigns in Asia for ten years. Conquering the vast Persian empire, while discovering new foods. Or try and picture the richness of fruits and vegetables in the lush Hanging Gardens of Babylon.What foods did our ancestors ate?How did all begin? Who was the first to write a recipe down and why? Sauces, ingredients, ways of cooking. Timeless and continuous yet unique and so alien to us now days. Staple ingredients of the Mediterranean world -as we think now- like tomatoes, potatoes, rice, peppers, didn't exist. What did they eat? We will travel far and wide, reconstructing the diet, the feasts, the dishes of a Greek Philosopher in a symposium in Athens, or a Roman Emperor or as a rich merchant in the last night in Pompeii.....Lavish dinners, exotic spices, so-called "barbaric" traditions of beer and milk, all intertwined...Stay tuned and find out more here, in 'The Delicious Legacy' Podcast!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.