He was born in Exabela (), 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 (). 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, he published his only book in English,
Greek Cookery. 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. 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. ==Bibliography==