This Ballarat entrepreneur is bridging cultural divides with accessible Middle Eastern cooking

Gilava Pour started her business Exotic Bazaar to make Middle Eastern recipes accessible to everyday Australians. At her first Farmers’ Market IN 2019, she sold out in two hours. 

🗣️: “We started with our meal bases in glass jars,” Pour told the Brolga. “We started selling, and the market was meant to be from 8am to 3pm. I was really enthusiastic, which I think helped, and people tasted it [the meal bases], and we were sold out at 11am.” 

With a laugh she added: “So, day one of the business I felt, well this is easy! But then I stepped into the naivete of starting the business. I went in with rose-coloured glasses.”

What’s Exotic Bazaar? Exotic Bazaar is a collection of easy-to-make recipe bases and pre-blended flavours, including Persian Love Cake, Moroccan Tagine and Turkish Citrus and Semolina Cake. The company also produces a range of spices, from za’atar to dukkah. 

Pour was inspired to create the business when she noticed the lack of Middle Eastern options in the international section of major supermarket chains. 

🗣️:“It started from a very simple idea. I know a lot of people are looking for new flavours, and they are curious about Middle Eastern recipes but it looks a little intimidating.”

• “I was walking down the aisles and I was really inspired by all the options we have. Believe it or not when you go overseas they don’t have as many options, especially with Southeast Asian foods. But the gap for Middle Eastern flavours was really obvious.” 

Pour said that Middle Eastern cooking is built around technique and a lot of slow cooking. Health is also at its core. 

🗣️: “One unique thing about Middle Eastern food is its all around health, so the recipes combine ingredients in a way that brings balance to your body in terms of the heat and coolness of different spices. It’s answering the question of healthy eating, convenience cooking and new flavour so that’s when I thought no one’s done it - I’m going to do it and make that change.” 

The journey to Ballarat: Pour is originally from Iran, moving to Brisbane in 2008. She visited Ballarat to help her sister move to the region and was won over by the city’s heritage charm. 

• “Actually, in my head all I thought was it was all like Sovereign Hill,” Pour said with a laugh. “I thought everyone would be walking around in puffy skirts and it would be a horse-and-carriage city.” 

• “I was amazed by how beautiful and clean and friendly it was. We have some really good restaurants too, and I was very tempted to make the move.”

It took some convincing for Pour’s husband, originally from England, to leave the sunny weather for the renowned winter of Ballarat. It worked in Pour’s favour, however, and helped her develop a love of gardening and cultivating homegrown vegetables to use in her cooking. 

🗣️: “I started gardening, something I thought I would never do. The Ballarat weather helps.” 

♥️ The art of sharing: Pour told the Brolga Iranian culture is built on cooking and a sincere love of sharing food. She grew up absorbing that way of life. 

🗣️: “My way of sharing love with someone is sharing my table. We’re always cooking or sharing a table or offering food or asking someone to eat more, whether it’s a moment of celebration or grief. It’s all around food.” Pour said. 

• “Being part of a family or group comes with sharing food. It’s the highest form of love. You’re sharing your creativity and time, it’s not tangible, it’s not money. It’s the definition of love.” 

A community built on flavour: This ethos has carried Exotic Bazaar to success both on a local and national scale. Pour partnered with Coles for a special Ramadan event earlier this year, and the business is experimenting with even more new products. 

Pour is proud of the impact it has had within the community, and mentioned a customer she spoke with that ate an entire Egyptian coconut cake in one sitting by themselves because the taste was too good. 

🗣️: “People who have never tried Middle Eastern flavours try it and come back to me and say they’ve never had something like that,” Gilava said. “They really warm up and soften and they open up to learning more about different cultures. And you know the more colourful our society becomes, the happier.”