Vangelis Mendrinos, the chef of the festival of Agia Paraskevi

Ο Vangelis Mendrinos is his absolute personality of the festival of Agia Paraskevi in Downside of Amorgos. This festival - the largest in the Cyclades - may be the result of the voluntary work of hundreds of believers, but Mr. Vangelis does not cease to be the heart of the festival without many drumbeats. Because he is simply the one who makes the commands to satisfy the 4 thousand believers, but also the 300 "servants" (the volunteers) who prepare the festival for a week.

Mr. Vangelis was born in 1942 in Amorgos, the child of a large family and at the age of 13,5 he traveled to Athens with his 4 older brothers to find work in construction. He was the one who cooked them at home when they returned from work while preparing the breakfast for the next day. His talent for cooking was revealed in the Navy but he was won over by construction as a contractor. He returned to the island in 1971 and since then has held a post at the festival. In 1980 he returned as a contractor and settled permanently on the island and of course contributed thanks to his gastronomic and administrative knowledge to the growth of the festival.

Vangelis does not hold many secrets - as the old ones did, he confessed to us - and he trains all the younger cooks to meet the ever-increasing demand.

Since 1981 settled permanently on the island. Closes 46 years cook at the festival (2017) while of these 43 is the chef. The food offered at the festival is the classic Amorgian potato, the sharp and the vinegar. The potato is cooked in about twenty cauldrons that each hold about 400 kg of food. His recipe in this quantity is 165 kilos of goat and sheep meat, 200 kilos of potatoes, 5 kilos of belte, 30 kilos of onion, 15 heads of chopped garlic, spices, cinnamon, pepper, cloves.

Vangelis Mendrinos, apart from the unique art of cooking delicious food for 4.000 people, is also amazing in serving. A cauldron with 300 servings serves it in about an hour!

Open-hearted and tireless, he does what he can to pass on his knowledge to young people, but of all of them he remains the youngest, in courage and enthusiasm.