Maria Guyomar de Pinha

Maria Guyomar de Pina(Thai:มารีอา กียูมาร์ ดึ ปีญา; 1664 – 1728) (also known asMaria Guiomar de Pina,Dona Maria del Pifiaor asMarie GuimarandMadame ConstanceinFrench),Thao Thong Kip Ma(Thai:ท้าวทองกีบม้า), was aSiamesewoman fromAyutthaya. She was of mixed Japanese, Portuguese and Bengali Indian ancestryand became the wife of Greek adventurerConstantine Phaulkon.
Maria Guyomar is known inThailandfor having introduced newdessertrecipesinSiamese cuisineat theAyutthayacourt. Some of her dishes were influenced byPortuguese cuisine, especiallyegg yolk-based sweets such asfoi thong,sangkhaya fakthongandsangkhaya.
Maria was born inAyutthayaduring the reign of KingNarai. Her father was known as Fanique or Phanick, aMestiçofromGoaof mixed Portuguese, Bengali Indian and Japanese ancestry,who was described as "half-black, half-Bengali, half-Japanese,"a devout Catholic of little means.Her mother was a Japanese Christian, named Ursula Yamada, whose ancestors had migrated to Siam following therepression of ChristianityinJapan.By some accounts, Ursula was not a very faithful wife and Maria, who was of light complexion, may have been fathered by a Sicilian priest.
Maria Guyomar was brought up as aCatholic. In 1682, Maria marriedConstantine Phaulkonafter he abandonedAnglicanismfor Catholicism.They had two sons, George "Jorge" Phaulkon and Constantin "João" Phaulkon, and lived a life of affluence as Phaulkon rose to become highly influential at the royal court of king Narai.
During the period ofrapprochement between France and the Siamese courtMaria Guyomar de Pinha, together with her husband Phaulkon, was promised French protection by being ennobled acountessof France. During the1688 Siamese revolution, after the execution of her husband on 5 June, she managed to flee Ayutthaya with the help of a French officer named Sieur de Sainte-Marie and took refuge with the French troops inBangkokon 4 October, but the Commander of the French fortGeneral Desfargesreturned her to the Siamese under pressure from the new ruler, usurperPhetracha, for the exchange of hostages on 18 October.
Despite the promises that had been made regarding her safety, she was condemned to perpetual slavery in the kitchens of Phetrachauntil his death in 1703, but remained and became the head of the royal kitchen staff.
One of her sons, Jorge, became a minor official at the Siamese court. Her second son, João, was known to have been put in charge byPrince Phonof building a Germanorganfor the royal palace.According to French missionary sources he was calledRacha Mantriand was at the same time a supervisor of the Christians in Ayutthaya and the official in charge of the royal storehouses.
In her later life, Maria, together with her daughter-in-law Louisa Passagna (widow of João), continued to sue theFrench East India Companyto recoup money which her husband Phaulkon had lent to the company. She was vindicated in 1717 through a decree from the Council of State in France, which provided her with a maintenance allowance.Maria died in 1728.
Maria Guyomar took the position of cook in the palace in the period of King Narai and introduced many new desserts into theSiamese cuisinesuch ascurry puff,Khanom mo kaeng,Thong muan,Thong yot,Thong yip,Foi thong,SangkayaandKhanom phing.Such desserts were presented and served to King Naraiand his daughter PrincessSudawadiwho appreciated them and promoted them.Khun Luang Ha Wat or King Uthumphon said that the desserts were distributed and sold in the market in area of Pa-Khanom.Following the success of the new desserts in the palace, some nobles requested to be taught the recipes. Many of her desserts were yellow like gold, a colour that was considered auspicious and pleasant in Siamese tradition. Thus, the desserts that Maria had introduced were widely popularized.
The Historical Archives of theArchdiocese of Bangkokmention that, although she introduced some local Siamese ingredients in them, Maria's sweets were largely based on traditional Portuguese desserts. The original Thai desserts had had flour, sugar or palm sugar and coconut as the main ingredientsand Maria is credited with having introduced egg or yolk, refined sugar, soybean starch or cassava starch, as well as nuts, in her desserts.Angel hair orFios de ovos, also known in Thai as Foi Thong, are egg threads where yolks were drawn into thin strands and boiled in sugar syrup. Next, Thong Yip, which is a sweet made from egg, was developed fromTrouxa de ovos. They have a different external look, Thong Yip is pleated but Trouxa de ovos are rolled. Also,Khanom mo kaengis a sweet made from flour egg and coconut milk, is similar toTigelada, a Portuguese traditional sweet that has rolled almond as main ingredient.During King Narai’s period, a version known asKhanom kumphamat(Thai:ขนมกุมภมาศ) was served to the king in a pot which was made from precious metal.
There is, however, some disagreement over Maria’s role in popularizing the desserts, Pridi Phitphumwithi claimed that some of the kinds of dessert attributed to Maria had been previously known by Siamese people. They had been named “Convent sweet” because they were cooked by the nuns in Portuguese convents.Other critics claim that even though a large array of Siamese desserts are claimed to have been invented by Maria, only two kinds of dessert —Foi thongandThong yip— can be fully said to be the fruit of her own skill.
The role of Maria Guyomar is featured in the 2018 historical drama TV seriesLove Destiny(original titleBupphesanniwat) and the 2023 historical drama TV seriesLove Destiny 2. She is portrayed by the Anglo-Thai actressSusira Naenna.