Homestead Bound

The Goan Homestead Facebook page lists out a veritable drool worthy list of authentic and often forgotten Goan delicacies like Mackeral Pickle, Ambade pickle, Mango chutney, Mangaad, seasonal squashes, masalas and homemade wine. It is apparent that Maria de Mello’s endeavour is to re-live the Goan culinary classics and make it available to the current generation of locals and outsiders who crave for the authentic in all things. 

Meeting Maria seals the fact that Goan hospitality isn’t dead. She is the typical charmer, happy to take you through the garden in her maternal home in Saligao where she along with her mother Vera de Mello nurture a host of fruit trees, medicinal plants including turmeric, galangal, soursop and insulin plant. Says Maria, “I have always been intrigued by the concept of homesteading. It is basically a natural lifestyle of self sufficiency and sustainability which is less dependent on store bought produce and products and focuses more on growing your own food, making your own products, bartering the excess and so on. This is the only way to ensure that the food you eat is free of pesticides and chemicals. With this intention, I began The Goan Homestead.”

Growing up, Maria watched her mum make pickles from what she grew in her kitchen garden. Reminisces Maria, “She would make big batches of pickle and jam which she would  then distribute to neighbours, family and friends.” Though she occasionally helped her mum, the thought of taking this seriously never arose. She in fact went on to do her Masters in Psychology but perhaps in retrospect that did work well since she seems to have read people’s mind and current trends in trying to maximise all things natural. 

Maria is also famous for making Avocado saplings accessible in Goa. Intent on growing rare fruit trees, she realised that avocado which known for its health benefits, wasn’t available here. This made her source the seeds that she experimented with. It worked and to date, she has sold, gifted and planted nearly 3000 avocado saplings which have been bought by people all over Goa. Adds Maria, “Some avocado saplings have been taken to neighbouring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra.” 

Backed by her supportive husband, Leo de Souza, together, they ensure that quality and hygiene standards are maintained. Explains Maria, “None of our products have chemical preservatives, artificial colours or artificial flavours. We keep our products as natural as possible. Our aim is to make high quality products having a homemade and authentic Goan taste. With rampant commercialisation and so many Goans living abroad, we want to preserve our Goan cuisine and culture.” 

Their hard work and persistence seems to have paid off with people contacting them not just from Goa but even Goans living abroad. Appreciation has also come their way in terms of wins at the Konkan Food Festival for their Raw Papaya Pickle. Ironic as it is, Maria shares that her challenge initially was to not pay heed to people who thought she was wasting her time doing this from home instead of pursuing a job.     

Busy with her incumbent shift to Moria and juggling her work along with bringing up two toddlers, Maria is eager to have her children value the worth of gardening and in a way pass the baton towards natural living. Her own mum Vera cannot but be proud. She says most indulgently, “She is the only one amongst my five to have taken after me, preserving our local cuisine and keeping our Goan culture alive.”