Our Story
Bringing Bolivia's Flavour to Toronto
Hello!
My name is Tania Di Blasi, I came to Toronto from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia in 2001, I'm a proud mother of 3 amazing kids. Like most immigrants, at the beginning it's hard to adjust and we have to start from zero. Usually we don't get to choose what we want to do or we have to reinvent ourselves when we decide to leave behind everything we know in search for a better future. With time, hard work and perseverance, opportunities started to finally open up for me. My advice to you is that when that time comes, be ready to take it all in and put all the experience and knowledge acquired to test. Don't hesitate, just believe in yourself and do it. I did it and it has been the best decision I’ve ever made.
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How did this dream begin? It all goes back to my childhood memories. Growing up in Bolivia, I always remember seeing my family preparing delicious food, sharing and trying new recipes.
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My mother would prepare amazing food for her guests; she loved hosting parties, and watching my grandmother (another great cook) making everything from scratch, seeing them put so much love and dedication into creating these wonderful experiences for all my family and friends, and watching people gather around the table savouring and enjoying every bite opened up my curiosity. Since then I decided to help in the kitchen and let all that wisdom from generations be passed on to me.
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I lived in Bolivia for 25 years, and studied Gastronomy with a group of Chefs from Spain who came to Santa Cruz to teach; I wanted to learn more so it was an amazing experience.
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When I finally decided to materialize this dream of mine of introducing Bolivian Food to Torontonians, my daughter decided to join me on this crazy adventure and I couldn't imagine a better partner. I say "crazy" because we decided to open during the COVID-19 pandemic. We knew it was very risky, but we were sure of what we had to offer and we still believe that it is something unique, special and worth sharing with everyone.
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The process wasn't easy. It took us many years to perfect our salteñas recipe because we had to adjust to different local ingredients. I realized then that making salteñas requires certain skills, techniques and definitely patience. But after many trials and a long learning process, we are very proud of the quality of the products that we get to offer all of our dear customers today. Our biggest challenge was to make everything taste authentic.
We only use the best local products and ingredients to prepare one of the most traditional and iconic foods from Bolivia: our Salteñas. As we mentioned before, the process of making this Bolivian dish is far from simple. It takes 3 days to have them ready, but it's all worth it because when we get to see our clients’ expressions on their faces when they have the first bite and they can't hide them, they fall deeply in love with the flavour, texture and uniqueness. That for us is the best reward and our motivation to keep improving and maintaining the quality of our products.
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Our hope is that people from Toronto are adventurous enough to explore and to learn more about our gastronomy and our culture.
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Talk soon,
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Tania & Fiona
Team Members
Tania Di Blasi
Head Chef & Business Owner
Tania Di Blasi is a trained Bolivian-Spanish chef raised in Sucre, Bolivia. She cultivated her knowledge of Bolivia’s gastronomic flavours through the knowledge sharing gained from local chefs in Bolivia, and also learned Bolivia’s iconic recipes on her own through craftsmanship. She is passionately curious and ignited by being the bridge to connect Toronto with Bolivian culture. She is excited to continue sharing her knowledge with her daughter Fiona daily, where they can learn and lean on each other as mother and daughter, as well as business partners.
Tania looks forward to connecting with you all in person or via Munay Bolivian Food’s social media channels.
Facebook: @munay.ca
Instagram: @munay.to
Fiona Rieger
Sous Chef & Business Partner
As a young woman who was not raised in Bolivia, seeing her mother Tania teaching herself how to make salteñas from scratch really enlightened her curiosity. She watched until she felt called to help and learn the art of Bolivian cooking with her mother. When her mom came forward with the idea of opening up Munay Bolivian Food in the heart of the Latinx-Caribbean Toronto community, St. Clair West, she knew she wanted to be by her side to help grow the business sustainably.
As a core member of the business’ day-to-day tasks, Fiona gets most excited seeing the direct impact her culture’s food is having on clients experiencing the brand for the first time, and looks forward to seeing Munay Bolivian Food’s avid #MunayCommunity continue to grow.