The Mama Sita Story

Born into a family with a passion for food, it was no surprise that Teresita Reyes, the daughter of Engracia "Aling Asiang" Reyes of Aristocrat fame, would grow up to love food as much as she did.

Teresita – who would later become known as Mama Sita and who would have a whole line of condiments, sauces and mixes named after her – herself had a large family and as expected, food became the central point of their gatherings at their compound in Mandaluyong. There was a small park in the middle of the compound, and the tables would be laid out there, with the whole family gathering around them. At times, there would be as many as 80 Reyes first cousins from 10 families present at these gatherings. "In our family, food was always equated with getting together," recalls Mama Sita’s son Ramon.

With Mama Sita for a mother (not to mention Aling Asiang for a grandmother), this was no ordinary Sunday lunch. The children would have as many as half a dozen dishes laid out on the table, including mechado, the famous chicken/pork barbecue, kare-kare, dinuguan at puto, pancit palabok, and lumpia. Mama Sita and Aling Asiang, with the help of several cooks, would do the cooking that often lasted several hours.

Mama Sita really loved to cook. She enjoyed all aspects of the cooking process, from the marketing to the actual cooking. Son Ramon remembers how Mama Sita used to go to Divisoria every day just to market. "That was her hobby," he laughs. "Even when there was a storm raging, she would still go to market. Sumisisid na ang kotse, pero namamalengke pa din siya." Sometimes, she would even bring her children along. So early on, Ramon and his brothers and sisters learned the basic skills of marketing, budgeting and pricing.

It was her love of cooking that led to the creation of the Mama Sita line of condiments, sauces and mixes. "She would travel regularly to the US to visit her relatives that were there. Mahilig siyang magluto, so she would cook for them. Naaawa kasi siya ng puro hotdog at hamburger ang kinakain nila doon, so she would cook Filipino food," says Ramon. The only problem was that it was difficult to cook certain dishes – like sinigang, for instance, because bayabas and tamarind (sampaloc) did not grow in the US. So she had to content herself with using lemon.

But Mama Sita believed that there had to be a better alternative. "So when she came back to the Philippines, she talked to her son-in-law (Bart Lapus, husband of daughter Clara) about coming up with a powdered sinigang mix so that Filipinos could have their favorite dish even when abroad," says Ramon.

Another thing that Mama Sita loved was to experiment in the kitchen. She was constantly trying to come up with new dishes. Eventually, she got around to developing new mixes. Now, from the original Sinigang Mix, the Mama Sita line has grown to include everything from Adobo Mix to Menudo/Africa Mix, and even sauces and instant munggo.

Besides a love of food and cooking, Mama Sita’s other legacy to her children was the value of hard work. "When the Mama Sita products were new, we would carry the boxes and sell the products ourselves," recalls Ramon. "And when we were just starting, we have to live very simply. Tipid talaga. Our sisters didn’t even have a debut."

Eventually, their sacrifices paid off. The Mama Sita line of condiments, sauces and mixes is now world-famous, a 100 percent Filipino brand holding its own against bigger and better-funded foreign competitors.

"That’s what Mama Sita always told us," says Ramon. "You can be the best businessman in the world, but it’s also important to have integrity and to believe in what you’re doing. You must always adhere to standards, even if it seems impossible to achieve sometimes. And of course, resourcefulness and enthusiasm. You have to have a passion for what you’re doing, or you won’t succeed."

These are lessons Mama Sita’s children and grandchildren (who include Vicky Rose Reyes-Pacheco of Chateau 1771 and Alvin Lim, chef of the new Serye Restaurant at the Quezon Memorial Circle in QC) have learned, and learned well. And even now that she is gone, her legacy and love for cooking live on.