Susana Corcoba took her passion for food and cooking in a different direction. Instead of opening a restaurant, she founded From Basque with Love offering delicious, all natural, easy to prepare cook at home meal kits.
Being a working Mum gave Susana perspective on the importance of creating tasty, healthy meals that don’t take hours to prepare. So, she has created meal kits that taste like they’ve been cooking for hours, but actually produce maximum flavour in minimal prep time. All the hard work has already been done.
Susana hails from Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain where cooking is an integral part of that ancient culture. Basque cuisine is totally unique in the world. Inspired by her mother’s incredible intuitive cooking, Susana developed a keen palate and a taste for fine food.
As a girl, she went to open-air markets with her mother to select fresh local ingredients to craft into classic Basque dishes like, marmitako, a rustic tuna and potato soup or paella with saffron rice and fresh local seafood. Now she wants to pass her love of flavour on to the Australian public.
The food landscape has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Australians are more interested in flavour
“The food landscape has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Australians are more interested in flavour. People love the fact that From Basque with Love meal kits are quick and easy, but it’s the flavour they really love,” she says.
While the business name might suggest all her recipes come from Spain, her twelve meal kits actually feature dishes from all around the world: Morocco, Thailand, India and Europe. The kits make tasty rice, dahl and couscous as well as scrumptious rice puddings for dessert.
Preparing each meal kit is as simple as adding water or stock with protein or vegetables to the package of all-natural, high-quality raw grains, fruits, nuts, herbs, and plentiful spices. The Casablanca couscous has 25 different spices in it! All kits are lovingly handcrafted in small batches.
Making meal kits was not something Susana ever envisaged for her future. She had a successful career in business and fashion which came with the added perk of international travel. That gave her the opportunity to experience exotic cultures and sample global cuisine.
After living in Bali for twelve years running her own jewellery, accessory and clothing business, Susana met a Melbourne man named Julian whom she later married. They had two daughters in Bali before moving the family to Australia. In Melbourne, Susana discovered a gastronomic paradise set in an interesting, vibrant multi-cultural city she quickly and whole-heartedly adopted as her own. Sparked by her love of food and wanting to embark on a new career in her new country, she founded From Basque with Love in 2015.
When Susana first started in the food business she was making homemade infused olive oils and gourmet salts to sell at local markets. Then she added her Casablanca couscous to the repertoire. Its incredible popularity sparked the idea of making meal kits. What began as a side hustle at weekend markets with ingredients Susana stored in their one car garage at home, grew into their first factory just a couple of years later. Julian joined the team in 2017 just before the new factory opened. He has expanded their sales and customer base. Now Susana and Julian supply nearly 500 Australian stockists and are looking to expand into the US market.
Susana is proud to offer her products in ‘minimal, transparent, honest packaging’. No fancy boxes that will end up in the rubbish; just easy to see ingredients in generous quantities that produce meals positively bursting with flavour. Customers say the kits taste like homemade meals cooked from scratch. Susana is very excited that even chefs are talking about her products.
Having customers write to report that they prepare From Basque with Love meals kits for special occasions like birthdays and Christmas makes Susana’s heart sing.
Some folks even take her meal kits on camping excursions so they can enjoy gourmet flavours around the campfire in the wild under the stars.
From Basque with Love meal kits are available at all local fine food stores as well as online.
frombasquewithlove.com