Instagram can pretty much make you and that’s what happened to Yiayia Next Door which was so well received there in a food account – in Melbourne – that it led to a cookbook inspired by, what else, a Greek grandmother, but with a heartbreaking story.

In 2018, brothers Daniel and Luke Mancuso began to post videos of their elderly Greek neighbor, a grandmother, passing them plates of home-made comfort food over the backyard fence, said Gourmet Traveler.

There’s a grim backstory though. In 2013, the Mancuso’s mother Teresa was murdered by the boys’ father in their home, and the woman they call  Yiayia helped alert police.

“Since then, Yiayia (and her husband, the often off-screen Papou) has taken on a surrogate role for the Mancusos – cooking them traditional Greek food, and passing it to them over the back fence,” the site said. She will only give her name as Nina and not let her face be shown.

Yiayia Next Door is packed with over 60 dishes – beautifully shot by acclaimed food photographer Mark Roper – including Greek classics such as spanakopita, tiropita, lamb, keftedes (meatballs), moussaka, and more, the site said.