Vefa Alexiadou (1933–2024)

Vefa Alexiadou, a gifted cook from Volos, is the leading culinary authority in Greece today. With a degree in chemistry from the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, she combined her culinary talents with scientific principles to modernize Greek cooking without sacrificing authentic character and flavor of the traditional cuisine. During her frequent trips and extended studies abroad, she furthered her knowledge of culinary arts, food styling, table decoration, nutrition and dietetics.
In 1980 Mrs. Alexiadou self-published "Invitation to dinner", fulfilling a life-long dream of creating a "user-friendly" cookbook. An immediate success, it firmly established Vefa Alexiadou Editions in the competitive world of cookbook publishing. After three more cookbooks in the "invitation" series, she revitalized interest in traditional Greek cookery for a whole new generation of urban cooks with her 2-volume premier work, "Greek Cuisine" and "Greek Pastries and Desserts", published in 1989-91 in both Greek and English. To date she has published a total of 11 cookbooks, of which three are available in English. During the past 5 years 3 titles at least, have appeared monthly on the Greek best sellers list. Also her books "Greek Cuisine" and "Greek Pastries and Desserts" as reported in the Hellenic Literature Society's Newsletter, "Greece in Print", are listed as best sellers among Greeks of the Diaspora in 36 countries.