During lockdown last year, Evagelia Tsoukala (Eva) made the decision to start selling her homemade Greek food to the wider community after rave reviews from friends and family.
Having moved from Thessaloniki in Greece to Perth in 2017, Eva took up a job as a deputy manager of the restaurant at Glendoick Garden Centre.
When lockdown hit she lost her job and found a new part-time role as a waitress at Gloagburn Farm Shop working Monday to Thursday.
But as she began looking for an additional source of income, Eva had the idea of launching her own business, Eva Tzatziki Homemade Greek Food, in January 2020 and started selling her home cooking to those in the surrounding community.
Nearly two and half years later the 41-year-old has a thriving online Greek food business which she says she couldn’t have done without the help of her husband Ioannis Stavridis (44) and children Christos (15) and Konstantina Stavridis (14).
Food from home
Connecting her family to her home country with her food, Eva says it is thanks to her own mother teaching her how to make traditional Greek cuisine, that she can pay homage to her culture.
She said: “I have been cooking for almost 20 years since my mother taught us from when we were very young.
“All the food is family food and the food I cook at home for my husband and kids.
“It is the food that gives me memories of my mum’s cooking.”
What does she cook?
Looking to showcase the best of Greek cuisine, Eva’s customers have 22 different options that they can choose from with a variety of starters, mains, desserts and salads available.
Dishes range from £3 to £8 and customers can order through her Facebook page.
Eva posts her offering for the week on Mondays and can take orders any day to be made fresh for collection.
She also offers free delivery for orders above £10 in Perth and above £25 in the rest of Tayside and Fife area.
Typical dishes and prices for food portions available include:
- Mousakas: £5
- Piikantiki Greek salad: £4
- Soutzoukakia with rice and tomato sauce: £5
- Peas with carrots and potatoes: £3.50
- Baklava: £3.50
- Greek salad: £4
Making all of the ingredients for her dishes herself means she can easily cater for vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diets.
She can make alter recipes to suit her clientele’s needs.
Attending farmers’ markets
After a customer told Eva about the various farmers’ markets she attended Eva committed to her first market in September 2021.
Since then she has sold her food at a different one every weekend across the region due to demand.
View The Courier’s interactive farmers’ market map
These include Dundee, Perth, Kinross, Monifieth and Stirling.
At the events she sells portions of her food in microwavable containers which customers can take home and enjoy later in the day.
“The people at the markets don’t feel like my customers, they are like my friends and regulars that come and buy from me,” she said.
“People love it more because they feel like I am cooking for my family and them, too.”
Future plans
While Eva and her family can’t currently afford for her to go full-time with her home cooking business due to their recent move and lockdown implications, it is something Eva is keen to pursue and would commit to if given the opportunity.
She said: “I thought about opening a restaurant but it was too expensive.
“If my family was able to run without my income then I would go full-time with this.
“It would be great to do this homemade cooking since you can’t find all these Greek foods being made fresh in the area.”
Conversation