BELLINGHAM – Viviane Gontijo was enthusiastic about instructing at one among America’s most prestigious universities, however discovering that she was happier making chocolate persuaded her to go away.
Gontijo was a school member at Harvard College for 9 years, beginning out as a Portuguese professor and later heading the college’s language program.
For every class and unit, she added a bit on every tradition’s meals and what it means, she mentioned. Meals is a vital ingredient in understanding a tradition, mentioned Gontijo, who’s initially from Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, Brazil. She began cooking when her grandmother taught her the right way to bake truffles when she was 5 years previous.
“I even have images of myself instructing college students the right way to make brigadeiro, a Brazilian truffle,” she mentioned.
When the pandemic broke out early final 12 months, Harvard went digital and Gontijo began working from residence.
She quickly realized that she didn’t wish to return.
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“Working from hand-crafted me really feel more healthy and happier,” she mentioned.
She considered when she felt happiest and it was when she was making ready meals for household, pals, college students and associates, she mentioned.
In February, she left Harvard to do one thing she’d all the time needed to do – promote her handcrafted sweets from residence.
She began out small and selected to begin a house enterprise as a substitute of investing in a constructing, she mentioned. After registering Vivilicious as an LLC, she purchased enterprise insurance coverage and had her kitchen checked by the well being division to verify it was match to be used. The board all the time comes again when it has to prepare dinner a big batch of merchandise to observe their actions, she mentioned.
On August thirtieth, she formally “opened” Vivilicious Treats, a web based store that focuses on truffles with a Brazilian twist.
French truffles are normally made with cream and have a extra fudge-like texture, whereas Brazilian brigadeiros use condensed milk and are creamier, she mentioned.
She mixed these two textures to get the right creaminess, mentioned Gontijo, whose grandfather is from France and whose grandmother is from Portugal.
Communicate the language of chocolate
Gontijo makes use of Belgian chocolate to make the goodies she likes to eat herself – they aren’t too candy and don’t include any synthetic flavors.
Earlier than beginning the corporate, she despatched 50 samples to pals for critiques. Many determined they needed to order after attempting them without cost, she mentioned.
Favourite flavors included pistachio, raspberry, and orange cream, she mentioned, along with her private favourite being blueberry.
Along with darkish, milk and white chocolate truffles, different flavors can be found:
- Espresso utilizing Gas America espresso (which was launched in Brighton and has a roastery in Worcester)
- Ardour fruit
- strawberry
- coconut
She has already offered a number of packages and organized for a marriage.
Along with truffles, she plans to promote particular person truffles and savory pies with fillings like hen and shrimp.
Opening this firm was an awesome studying expertise, she mentioned, but it surely wasn’t her first endeavor.
When Gontijo moved to the US in early 2000, she ended up in San Diego. She observed a requirement for Portuguese classes and opened a Portuguese language faculty. Prospects included corporations like Sony and Hewlett-Packard that did enterprise in Latin America, she mentioned.
This enterprise nonetheless exists after she offered it to get a PhD, mentioned Gontijo, which she acquired from UMass Dartmouth and the place she later served as a Portuguese trainer. She later taught at Bridgewater State College earlier than transferring to Harvard.
She has additionally revealed a number of textbooks, together with a Portuguese self-paced examine from which her husband Andrew – a biochemist who works at Harvard TH Chan College of Public Well being – discovered the language.
Gontijo can also be engaged on opening a language studying remedy firm to assist folks overcome concern of studying a brand new language by actions and assessments she developed after finishing her PhD. in psycholinguistics, she mentioned.
The instructing sooner or later can also be not off the desk, she mentioned.
Gontijos truffles could be ordered on-line at Vivilicioustreats.com.
Lauren Younger writes about enterprise and popular culture. You’ll be able to attain them at 774-804-1499 or lyoung@wickedlocal.com. Comply with her on Twitter @laurenwhy__.
