The monk Epiphanios from the Great Lavra Monastery of Mount Athos died of cancer.
He was known as the “cook of Mount Athos,” and was a diverse personality.
He cultivated the vineyards, produced wine, promoted the traditional Mount Athos cuisine, wrote cookbooks and promoted oil, wine and the monastic diet.
He spoke humbly about himself, saying that from a young child on Mount Athos, and specifically in Agiou Pavlou Monastery, he had the opportunity to learn the art of cooking as an assistant alongside great Mount Athos cooks.As a monk, he emphasizes that “the food of the soul is prayer and the study of the scriptures. Everything else is a sideline.”
His book, “Cuisine of Mount Athos,” was one of the most popular in its category and has been translated into German, English, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Spanish.
The cook who left his fingerprints on the monastic cuisine was born in 1956 in Paggaio, Kavala. In 1973 he went to Mount Athos. In 1990 he decided to continue his monastic life in the Holy Seat of Agios Efstathios (Mylopotamos), metochion of the Great Lavra Monastery.