Portugese Cook
Maria’s story
Maria, a mum and Portuguese home cook, is the founder of Vegan by Goreti. Due to her son’s allergies and coeliac disease, she has spent years experimenting with vegan and gluten free Portuguese recipes, made from scratch with fresh ingredients. Pre-modern Portuguese exploration and trade mean that spices have been widely used in Portuguese recipes for a long time.
Pasteis de Nata" is a Portuguese custard tart pastry. It consists of flaky layers of pastry filled with a creamy custard. The top of the custard is typically caramelised during baking, creating a sweet and slightly crispy layer. These pastries are a popular and traditional Portuguese treat, often enjoyed with a sprinkle of cinnamon or powdered sugar on top. While typically non-vegan, Maria makes her own vegan Pasteis de Nata, providing opportunities for people to experience this Portuguese delicacy in a plant-based form.
Cinnamon is used to enhance flavours in savoury and sweet dishes, and the famous Piri-piri spice gives a fiery kick to many meat, seafood and vegetable dishes. Although Goreti specialises in the last, you’d never know. Staying true to the wide array of spices, her dishes are steeped in delectable flavour.
Based in Newcastle, she now delivers to the public and caters events. Goreti’s bean stews and vegan pastel de natas are a firm favourite, and highly endorsed by the public. However, her menu is much more diverse serving a wide variety of small bites and cakes to hearty plates and soups. Anyone looking for healthy and authentic Portuguese food that can cater to a wide array of dietary requirements should look no further. 20 years of recipe development, made with a mother’s love mean that taste is guaranteed.
