Savour the taste of health with Bakerie de Stardust in Goa

As she came through the door, at first glance, Samantha’s cheerfulness was catching. Samantha Viana, works as a psychologist, counselling addicts at the North Goa District Hospital’s Addiction Treatment Facility.

An alumna of St Xavier’s College, this young woman possesses mental acuity and creativity that are clearly evident. Apart from the honourable profession she has chosen to pursue, Samantha is a home-based baker, running Bakerie de Stardust with mounting success.

Her passion for what began as a hobby is unmistakable as she launches into a description of how she came to learn more about baking.

She says, “I first learnt the basics from a friend. My interest increased. Later I decided to do the free IHM course provided by the government. This was food & beverage and bakery & confectionery course during the summer holidays.”

This course was something Samantha had dreamt of doing since she was a young child in school. She says, “Luckily I was working at the Sanjay Centre for Special Education at the time and its higher secondary and vocational section is close to IHM.”

This foundational learning ‘was an introduction to a new world, so to say!’ she admits gleefully. Even though she didn’t earn the course certificate, as an internship was a prerequisite, she absorbed the knowledge she had acquired to make the best use of it.

From thereon, Samantha has gone on to augment her knowledge of baking by reading food blogs, watching YouTube channels and observing other bakers. Samantha is inspired by any food that strikes her as above the normal standard.

Through trial and error, she has created a unique menu of the most delectable baked goodies. “If I like what I eat, I try to recreate my version of it. There was this place where I really liked the ginger cookies, so I created my version, which is the ragi, oats and raisins cookies,” says Samantha.

Her concentration on healthy alternatives was motivated by her fitness-driven brother who wouldn’t eat foods with refined flour, sugar and oil.

“So, I replaced the maida with whole wheat flour, and sugar with jaggery, and we found that the items were not only healthy, they were denser and tastier,” says Samantha. Eventually, her mother, Maria, and her other brother converted to the healthier options she was providing.

She went on to bake a diabetes-friendly walnut cake, with the sweetness of dates, for a relative’s birthday. It was greatly appreciated all around. This urged her to continue her foray into the health food world, learning more about gluten and lactose-free foods, besides finding more sugar substitutes.

Samantha says, referring to the dearth of healthy baked goods outlets, “I did not want to follow the norm. I wanted to do something different, create something different. I wanted to create my own niche.”

Taking inspiration from international recipes, Samantha replaces some hard-to-obtain ingredients using her ingenuity. She talks about baking hot cross buns for Good Friday and says, “You do not get ingredients like allspice easily here, and other ingredients used abroad can be extremely expensive. I made my own spice mix, improving on it based on taste tests.” The final result was applause worthy indeed.

Having received her FSSAI certification just three months ago, Samantha is still waiting to have her products tested.

Balancing a regular job with her hobby, is quite the task and is at the moment impeding progression to selling her baked goods in stores. For now she sells from home, at pop-up markets and at the Made in Saligao Community Market (during season).

There is a regular spread of goodies that Samantha bakes at the weekend. These include whole grain ragi loaf, spiced ragi buns, choco-ragi buns, beetroot-millet muffins, ragi, oats and raisins cookies, sweet potato brownies, ragi barfi and finger millet nachos. They are all vegan.

Samantha also caters to people who want highly customised orders owing to health concerns and allergies.

She makes an announcement mid-week on social media, allowing people to pre-order and pick-up or have the baked goods delivered. “I do order-based sales only, and now I have minimum quantity orders to reduce waste. It’s been a learning experience for me. If somebody asks for an order, I ask if anybody else would like an order of the same to club them together,” she says.

To whether she would ever come to make the choice between being a clinical psychologist or a baker with her own bakery, Samantha responds that both have their pros and cons. But, she does have aspirations of owning and running a bakery someday.

Healthy options are eschewed by most and deemed unpalatable. This is a problem Samantha has faced constantly at pop-up markets.

She says, “People will spend any amount of money on junk food, but they won’t spend on healthy alternatives. I want to change that slowly and steadily, that stereotypical mindset.”

“It’s the same with mental health. People are more likely to go the doctor for a physical ailment. However, mental health issues are stigmatised,” she continues.

“None of this would have been possible without the support of my mother. She has been my backbone all the way,” says Samantha.

The creatively-inclined Samantha, who loves nature photography and writing too, is well on her way to having an exceedingly successful career as a health-focused baker while transforming the lives of addicts.

You can follow Samantha Viana on Instagram and Facebook using her handle @bakeriedestardust for more on her healthy baked goods.