Thessaloniki residents and bakers did exactly what they set out to do by creating the world’s largest koulouri bread ring as part of the Thessaloniki Food Festival on Sunday, October 19. It measured 165 meters and encircled the city’s iconic White Tower.

Bakers used 700 kilos of flour and 250 kilos of sesame seed to create the mega-koulouri that is now seeking a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

Not having the world’s largest oven to bake a koulouri of such epic proportions, the bakers kneaded the doe into 250 equal parts and started baking in the early hours of Sunday morning.

They also baked a miniature White Tower especially for the event.

The creation was under the aegis of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and had the support of two companies – Mills of Crete and the Haitoglou Bros. – who supplied the raw materials for the creation.

All that was left at the end…

How the koulouri came to Thessaloniki?

 

The traditional Greek sesame-coated koulouri is known around the country as Koulouri of Thessaloniki, however the creation of this bread ring is actually rooted in the Byzantium and has origins in Constantinople. The first bakers of this type of bread were Greeks and Armenians. Population exchanges between Turkey and Greece saw the koulouri travel to Thessaloniki. Vendors sell this chew bread everywehre and it is also popular in Istanbul where the koulouri is known as “simit”.