Tia Maria: Your Portuguese Inspired Goan Food Destination

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in India, it left a lot of home chefs and caterers facing an unprecedented time with the lockdown being imposed. Businesses started taking a hit and many lost their jobs. By mid April everyone knew that a social gathering or a pop-up sale is a possibility only in the distant future until we had the situation controlled. With no income coming in, home cooks had to improvise and come up with a different solution to just survive. 

Everyone spent their days anxious and anticipating the return of normalcy. Soon the food entrepreneurs realised that they needed an alternate plan to go forward and began to reconsider their strategies. This gave birth to many home food businesses who used social media to their utmost advantage to promote their products. ‘Tia Maria’ which is located in Panjim is one such food business which saw its birth during the pandemic in Goa. It’s run by Maria Lorena Viegas who grew up in Goa and is a very passionate cook. They serve authentic Portuguese inspired Goan food in an effort to keep traditional dishes of Goa alive. 

At Goan Insider we spoke to the founder of ‘Tia Maria’. The excerpts of our conversation are below. 

Tell us a little about yourself

I am Maria Lorena Viegas, a small business owner, a mother of two and an enjoyer of the little things in life. I’ve always been fond of food and Goan cuisine happens to be my favourite because I grew up here in this beautiful state, surrounded by the best Goan cooks (my mother and grandmother). It’s them that I learnt my cooking from.

Give us a brief info about Tia Maria? How did you come up with the name? 

Tia Maria’ is a Goa based Home Kitchen started by myself in an attempt to provide authentic Portuguese inspired Goan cuisine to the masses and to keep the traditional dishes of Goa alive.

The name came about because my nieces and nephews call me ‘Tia Maria’. ‘Tia’ means Aunty in Portuguese.

What is the inspiration behind starting this venture?

I’ve always been very passionate about cooking and I love it when people enjoy my food. So when Covid-19 struck and it got difficult for people to cook their own food due to various reasons like the house help not coming in, or work from home being stressful, that’s when I knew I’d like to do my best to help. And thus, ‘Tia Maria’ was born. 

How do you build a successful customer base?

My daughter works in Marketing and she helped me promote my venture on Social Media. Facebook Groups was a huge blessing because it helped me reach just the right audience. We initially started posting there, and once we gained momentum, word of mouth really helped. In a small place like Goa, word of mouth works best.

Could you give us a brief run through on the varieties of food you offer?

The whole essence of ‘Tia Maria’ is that we serve Authentic Goan food that is made in small batches with utmost hygiene and care, from our very own kitchen, which not only serves our customers but our own family too. 

Among our bestsellers are the Pork Sorpotel and the Roast Beef.

With so many Home Kitchen’s being set up in Goa, what makes you unique from them? 

What makes us unique is our Authenticity. Goan cuisine is not one that’s easy to master and that’s why you don’t see a lot of people cooking it in its authentic form anymore. That’s where we come in, our masalas and pastes are made from scratch using the freshest ingredients. 

What has been your most satisfying moment in business? How has the response from the Goan audience been? 

‘Tia Maria’ is a very young venture, started in May 2020 amidst the pandemic, but we’ve received an amazing response from all over North Goa. We even have people coming all the way from South Goa to pick up food from us and we are so happy to play a small role in our clients celebrations or even daily meals.

Can you describe/outline your typical day?

My day starts off with heading to the market to pick out the freshest ingredients I can get my hands on. While it would be more efficient to have a helper do my shopping for me, I prefer doing it myself because I know exactly what cuts of meat to buy and how to spot the freshest meats and veggies. I then head back home and clean the produce, cook for the orders I have for that day. My kids normally help with packing and delivering the food. I’m usually free in the afternoons, that’s when I note down my orders for the next day and start prepping for my evening orders. I try to finish off by 6pm, but I do get a lot of last minute orders at times.

How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?

It’s been great because I don’t have a separate production unit. I cook from home so I’m still around family all the time.

What motivates you?

My client feedback is what motivates me the most. I’ve had clients who have picked up orders and called me within 5 minutes saying they’ve finished my croquettes or cheese samosas in the car itself and would like to pick up more. So feedback and repeat orders are definitely the biggest motivation for me.

What piece of advice would you give to college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs or pursue their passion?

While it feels great to be your own boss, it also comes with a lot of risk and stress. I’d advise college students to get a few years of work experience before starting off on their own so that they can learn what it’s like to work under a company and how things function.

What is next for you and Tia Maria? Any plans to take it beyond Goa?

I’d love to see Tia Maria grow into a brand, however I don’t have plans to take it beyond Goa. I love my little kitchen and the essence of being a local boutique business.

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