Martha Oplopiadis and Kosta Kostidis have changed Australia’s Greek pastry landscape by bringing the custard-filled phyllo-based bougatsa Down Under – and even named their bakery after it.

The mother-son duo opened hole-in-the-wall bakery, Bougatsaki, in Melbourne’s Brunswick in mid-September, and took inspiration from their family recipes to give Australia another traditional dish to add to the bakery roster.

With other Greek desserts like baklava or loukoumades being relatively mainstream in the baking industry, this pastry has flown under Australia’s radar for far too long.

Bougatsa (pronounced boo-gah-tsa) is filled with warm vanilla custard, wrapped in phyllo pastry, and dusted with an icing sugar/cinnamon combo. The phyllo is paper-thin and baked until golden so that it flakes away in the mouth, leaving the custard to curb the crunch. It is a traditional bite served warm as a snack and is apparently common knowledge in Greece.

In an interview with Broadsheet, Kosta explained how bougatsa is an expectation for any Greek bakery.

“It’s like a Greek vanilla slice. Every corner shop is its own little bougatsa shop,” he said to the publication.

After beginning his baking journey by using family recipes at home, Kosta described what the newly opened Bougatsaki means for his family.

“My grandpa was a baker his whole life when he was in Greece. He’s from Serres, up north, where bougatsa actually originates from,” Kosta said.

“He kind of lives through me now. The biggest thing is that I put a smile on his face.”

Bougatsaki use phyllo imported from Greece and bake each flaky bundle on-site. They offer traditional bougatsa with icing sugar and cinnamon, alongside more unique toppings like Nutella, Biscoff, or honey. There is also a savoury option Bougatsaki has on offer with spinach and cheese that resembles a gozleme.