Chef Panagioti serves up cooking videos on YouTube

“Hello everybody this is Chef Panagioti and today we are making baklava!”

That was the introduction to Glen Cove resident Panagioti Karathanasis’s video “Best baklava ever made by Chef Panagioti,” posted on May 26, a time that Long Island entered Phase 1 reopening.

In an effort to not only engage in something fun and productive, Panagioti, 9, along with his mother Stacey Karathanasis, produced and uploaded cooking videos on YouTube to bring cheer to others who were stuck at home or facing hardships during the pandemic.

“It’s really fun and it’s something we enjoy doing together,” Karathanasis said. “During the pandemic we created a cooking channel which kept us busy while quarantined. Now that things are opening up, we are having his little friends as guests and they cook together. We have been cooking and sharing the food and the desserts we make to friends, bringing big smiles on their faces.”

Meals and desserts are also given away weekly on the YouTube channel’s Facebook page for those who like the page and subscribe to the channel.

And Panagioti is no stranger to the kitchen. Karathanasis said that he’s always asked to help cook meals for the family and often offers to wash the dishes. “He’s very good,” Karathanasis said.

Panagioti said that he has really enjoyed making dishes like mozzarella sticks, tacos, chicken cutlets, and octopus, salmon and red snapper. “The first meal I made was macaroni and cheese,” Panagioti said.

Many of the recipes produced in these videos are Greek dishes; including artichoke pie, Greek coffee and Greek pastitsio. Others are yummy snacks and desserts like a chocolate log cake, pizza and banana bread.

Since the mother and son duo uploaded their first video on May 1, titled “Cooking octopus and more with Chef Panagioti,” 47 videos have been uploaded to the channel, which currently has 596 subscribers.

Panagioti and Karathanasis are both looking to grow their subscriber base as well through an initiative called the “Pancake Challenge.” When the channel reaches 1,000 subscribers, Panagioti and his friends will make 1,000 pancakes.

When asked what Panagioti and Karathanasis were going to do with 1,000 pancakes, they said they are going to distribute the breakfast or brunch to the Glen Cove community.

“It’s something that we are really focused on and we’re going to make it grow,” Karathanasis said. “We will continue, even when we go back to school. We are not going to stop making videos and cooking together.”

To see 1,000 pancakes fill up the Karathanasis kitchen, subscribe to Panagioti’s YouTube channel, “Chef Panagioti Karathanasis” by Aug. 5.