Trigono Panoramatos
The pastry created in 1960 by a milkman in Panorama, which took its neighbourhood's name.
Of all the foods on this page, the trigono is the only one with a confirmed birth date and a named creator. It didn't come down from Byzantium and it didn't arrive with refugees: it was made here, in post-war Thessaloniki, by a man who sold milk.
Elenidis and "to Loux"
Yannis Elenidis was a milkman. He delivered loose milk door to door until, in 1956, he opened his own dairy shop in Panorama, named "to Loux".
In 1960 he began making pastries from handmade filo and a cream of his own recipe. The shape was the distinctive part: a cone of filo folded into a triangle, filled with custard and steeped in syrup.
"Elenidis' triangle" became known first in the neighbourhood, then across the city, and eventually throughout Greece, where it settled under the name of the area: trigono Panoramatos. It has now passed sixty years.
Why it works
It is a very simple idea executed properly. The filo, fried or baked, stays crisp despite the syrup, and it's precisely that contrast with the cold, heavy custard that makes the pastry. A bad trigono gives itself away instantly: the filo has gone soft.
Panorama
The sweet took the name of a real neighbourhood: Panorama, the suburb on the eastern heights, known for its view over the city and the Thermaic Gulf. Driving up to Panorama for a pastry and the view has been a classic Sunday habit for locals for decades.
How it's eaten
Cold, with a plain coffee for contrast. It is very sweet, one or two is plenty. You'll find it in patisseries across the city, but the trip up to Panorama changes the experience, not just the taste.