Nikolaos Tselementes

{{Short description|Greek chef and cookbook author}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}

{{Infobox chef

| name = Nikolaos Tselementes
({{lang|el|Νικόλαος Τσελεμεντές}})

| image =Nikolaos_Tselementes.png

| birth_date = 1878

| birth_place = Exampela, Sifnos, Greece

| death_date = 2 March 1958 (aged 79-80)

| death_place =

| style = Greek, French

| education = Vienna

| ratings =

| restaurants =

| prevrests = Hermes Hotel, Athens
St. Moritz Hotel, New York

| television =

| awards =

| website =

}}

Nikólaos Tselementés ({{Langx|el|Νικόλαος Τσελεμεντές}}) (1878 – 2 March 1958){{cite web|url=https://www.kythiraika.gr/i-istoria-toy-nikolaoy-tselemente/|title=The history of Greek Chef Nikolaos Tselementes|language=el|date=18 March 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.olympia.gr/1577982/viral/nikolaos-tselementes-o-anthropos-poy-egrapse-istoria-me-to-vivlio-syntagon-toy-kai-allaxe-tin-mageiriki-stin-ellada/|title=Nikolaos Tselementes: The man who made history with his recipe book and changed cooking in Greece|language=el|date=19 January 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://docuventa.gr/nikolaos-tselementes/|title=Nikolaos Tselementes - The revolutionary of Greek gastronomy|language=el|date=2 March 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928163141/https://docuventa.gr/nikolaos-tselementes/|archive-date=28 September 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://greekherald.com.au/culture/history/on-this-day-influential-greek-chef-nikolaos-tselementes-passed-away/|title=On This Day: Influential Greek chef, Nikolaos Tselementes, passed away |date=2 February 2021 |publisher=The Greek Herald |first=Andriana |last=Simos |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307185109/https://greekherald.com.au/culture/history/on-this-day-influential-greek-chef-nikolaos-tselementes-passed-away/|archive-date=7 March 2022 }} was a Greek chef and cookbook author of the early 20th century. He is considered one of the most influential cookery writers of modern Greece, specialising in both Greek and French cuisine.

==Biography and career==

He was born in Exabela ({{langx|el|Εξάμπελα|label=none}}),{{cite web|url=https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/sifnos-greece-greek-islands|title=Sifnos: the most delicious Greek island |publisher=Condé Nast Traveler|date=8 August 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409154911/https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/sifnos-greece-greek-islands|archive-date=9 April 2023}} a village on the island of Sifnos, and grew up in Athens, where he finished high school. At first, he worked as a notary clerk, then he started cooking, working at his father's and uncle's restaurant.

He studied cooking for a year in Vienna and, on his return to Greece, worked for various embassies. He became initially known for the magazine Cooking Guide (Odigos Mageirikis) that he began publishing in 1910, which included – in addition to recipes – nutritional advice, international cuisine, cooking news, etc.

In 1919, he became manager of hotel "Hermes", and the next year he left for America, where he worked in several well-known restaurants, while also following higher studies in cooking, confectionery and dietetics.

In 1930, he published the influential cookbook Cooking and Patisserie Guide ({{Langx|el|Οδηγός μαγειρικής και ζαχαροπλαστικής|label=none}}).{{cite web|url=https://cycladesmap.gr/en/2021/01/26/νίκος-τσελεμεντές-ο-μεγαλύτερος-έλλη/ |title=Nikos Tselementes: The greatest Greek cook was from Sifni |date=26 January 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/greek-cuisine-and-nikolaos-tselementes-visit-the-birthplace-of-the-nation-s-mrs-beeton-on-sifnos-a6938941.html |title=Greek cuisine and Nikolaos Tselementes: Visit the birthplace of the nation's Mrs Beeton on Sifnos|work=The Independent|date=21 March 2016 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322000636/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/greek-cuisine-and-nikolaos-tselementes-visit-the-birthplace-of-the-nation-s-mrs-beeton-on-sifnos-a6938941.html |archive-date=22 March 2016 }}{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10723120|title=Hodēgos mageirikēs |author= Nikolaos K. Tselementes |location=Athens |year=1951|publisher= Oikos M.I. Saliverou|oclc=10723120 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.saveur.com/greek-chef-tselementes-legacy/ |title= Nikolaos Tselementes Changed Greek Cuisine Forever - But for Better or Worse? |first=Katherine |last=LaGrave |publisher=Saveur |date=30 October 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221202054454/https://www.saveur.com/greek-chef-tselementes-legacy/ |archive-date=2 December 2022}}

He returned to Greece in 1932, founded a small cooking and confectionery school and brought out his well-known book of recipes, which, being the first complete cookbook in Greek, had over fifteen official reprints during the following decades. In 1950,{{cite book |url= http://www.worldcat.org/title/greek-cookery/oclc/422543/editions?start_edition=1&sd=asc&referer=br&se=yr&qt=sort_yr_asc&editionsView=true&fq= |title= Greek Cookery - listings|last= Tselementes |first= Nikolaos |year=1950 |location=New York |publisher= Divry|oclc= 422543}} he published his only book in English, Greek Cookery.{{cite news | first=Judith | last=Weinraub | title=Back to the Classics | date=11 August 2004 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53965-2004Aug10.html |newspaper=Washington Post | access-date= 7 June 2016 }}

Influenced by French cuisine, he had been the modernizer of Greek cuisine as, thanks to him, the Greek housewives learned of béchamel sauce, pirozhki, and bouillabaisse.{{cite journal|last1=Cullather|first1=Nick|title=The Foreign Policy of the Calorie |journal=The American Historical Review |year=2007 |volume=112 |issue=2|pages=337–364 |doi=10.1086/ahr.112.2.337|pmid=17907347|doi-access=free}}{{cite web |title=Traditional Greek Cooking Is Nothing Like You Imagine It |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/tselementes-effect-greek-cooking-1705419 |access-date=9 February 2024 |website=The Spruce Eats |language=en}} He created also the modern versions of mousaka, pastitsio, and anginares (artichokes) alla polita.

His surname, Tselementes, is today in Greece a synonym of "cookbook", and is also used in jest about someone who can cook very well.{{cite web|url= https://www.thespruceeats.com/tselementes-effect-greek-cooking-1705419 |title=The Tselementes Effect on Greek Cooking |first= Nancy|last= Gaifyllia |date=5 August 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119082821/https://www.thespruceeats.com/tselementes-effect-greek-cooking-1705419 |archive-date=19 November 2023}}

==Bibliography==

• {{cite book|ref=none |last1= Kremezi |first1=Aglaia |author-link1=Aglaia Kremezi

|date= 1996 |chapter=Nikolas Tselementes

|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lpOqTUucwhUC&pg=PA162

|editor-last=Harlan |editor-first=Walker |title=Cooks & Other People (Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 1995)

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpOqTUucwhUC |publication-place=Totnes |pages=162{{hyphen}}169

|isbn=090-732-572-6 |via=Google Books |publisher=Prospect Books |quote=Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery is an annual weekend conference for current issues in food studies and food history.}}