About Maria

Picture of Maria in a tan top and white dress with her dog

Hi my gorgeous hunnies,

I’m Maria Koutsogiannia, your Greek Food Bestie behind FoodByMaria, where I create delicious food inspired by my Greek heritage and Mediterranean roots.

If you’ve found yourself on this not so little anymore corner of the internet it’s likely because you have a profound love for All Things Greek or maybe just because you’re an avid follower, cheerleader or lover of my raw and authentic approach to life.

Let’s start at the very beginning, shall we?

After 7 years of University studying Accounting and Finance, I found myself in a pretty dark hole. Unhappy, uncertain and quite honestly not alive, simply existing in my skin. These topics were never something I was very passionate about. Though I’ll admit I am talented with numbers, it was never something that lit my soul on fire quite like cooking and food did. After much deliberating, I packed my bags and bought a 1-way ticket to Thailand. I spent 7 weeks travelling, overdrinking, overconsuming and journaling. I was trying to find myself.

It wasn’t until the night of June 2nd that something changed. I bumped into a beautiful English man named Andrew Joseph Camacho and I truly think it was from this moment on that my life changed forever.

The next 5 months are a whirlwind. My time in Thailand came to an end and I found myself travelling Europe and making occasional stops in London to visit this young lad. Long story short, I ended up back home in North America and a few months later I ended up in a long-distance relationship with Andrew.

Now the REAL journey begins.

Maria and her family gathered around a table

2014

Fast forward to January 2014, in Bromley, England. The misery returned. I’m working in accounting in central London and life feels so dark. It wasn’t until September that I decided to grab life by the balls and make some choices that led me to where I am today.

The IG account of @foodbymaria was born. Initially, FoodByMaria started as a way of healing from years of battling an eating disorder (the misery I speak of). It was my passion project that helped distract me from the reality I was existing in. It helped me create a healthy relationship with food.

2015

On October 1st, 2015 I launched www.foodbymaria.com. Pure passion, naivety and love with 0% of a clue.

At the time, it was a hobby. Barely editing photos, shooting them on my phone, eventually on my first Canon, and creating recipes in real-time. Quite literally giving myself minutes to meet my scheduled post. My blog was something for me to mend my relationship with food and get me excited about it. It was an escape from the everyday responsibilities of working as a waitress and pursuing my post-secondary education to become an accountant.

Here’s the crazy part, it eventually flourished into an award-winning home of nutritious, comforting recipes that thousands of people make every month.

2018

Fast forward to 2018, I had enough of the traditional road my life was headed on and I took a leap of faith. I quit my waitressing job and decided to pursue my hobby as a career. I was broke, but fueled by my love for cooking and creating recipes that I could share with all of you. At the time, all I had to my name was one $800/month partnership with a snack company. My pockets were empty, but my heart was so damn full. I was energized, motivated, and most definitely terrified.

Although my choice to ditch a conventional career to pursue a career in blogging came with a lot of learnings, challenges, and road bumps, I got affirmation that I was on the right path when I landed a book deal in 2018. It’s only been uphill since then! Hundreds of recipes, one cookbook, several eBooks, 900K+ followers, a contestant on Guy’s Grocery Games, and all of my wonderful fans, my little Tzatziki’s.

Andrew and I eventually ended up buying our own home for a new and fresh energy (and of course a gorgeous kitchen for the FBM headquarters). We also had a member of the family join us, our furry little weiner friend, Herbert (we call him little, but trust me, he has that BDE). He’s the best little boy and we love him so much.

Present

If you’ve made it this far I want to say thank you for being here, for making a recipe, for leaving a review, for liking those Instagram videos, and for making me your little Greek food bestie. FoodByMaria has become so much more than I ever imagined. I am so thankful to bring my food, routed in my family history and recipes I grew up with from my Greek mama and yia-yia into your homes.