When two spice-inspired businesses collide, brilliance comes together. That’s exactly what has happened when spice business Surasa and ceramics venture Clay Crush collaborated and Three Spice was born.

Brought to you by sisters-in-law, best friends, business partners, and fellow spice lovers, Geeta and Linda, Three Spice is the culmination of two incredibly talented women and their unique business offerings.

Geeta, originally from Malaysia, moved to Australia 15 years ago and found it wasn’t long before she was yearning for the flavours of home. With her background in IT, product development, and a passion for spice and flavour, in 2021 Surasa was born. Featuring quality spices, seasonings, and organic teas to enjoy at home, Surasa offers a range of spice blends to help keen foodies make unique and authentic Asian dishes.

“Malaysia is so diverse and I just love chasing those flavours. Malaysians love their food and will travel long distances just to try a famous local dish. I wanted to recreate that here in Australia - giving locals the chance to seek out something special, a unique Malaysian culinary experience,” Geeta said.

On the other hand, is Linda, a Newcastle local and natural creative having returned to the world of ceramics five years ago to dial back into her own creative side. Clay Crush soon came to life and Linda was busily creating ceramic delights for friends and family. 

“I’ve come from a family of entrepreneurs, so I’ve always had this itch that needed to be scratched. I think I started feeling a little bit of burnout about five years ago, so that’s when I started doing the ceramics. I did ceramics for my HSC years ago, so it was really fun to step back into that.

“I've always been passionate about ceramics and over the past few years have thoroughly enjoyed creating and perfecting functional pieces such as cups, mugs, plates, and bowls that reflect my style - bright colours and textures,” Linda said.

So, how did Three Spice come about?

As the two girls spent more time together, the pair found a mutual love for all things food, creativity, and creating memories with people and decided to create a collaborative box of Surasa flavours and Clay Crush goodies under the guise of Three Spice in the lead-up to Christmas 2020.

“We were just chatting about Linda’s beautiful ceramics, and my spice business, and the two just really complement one another. We just said, why don’t we test a collaboration? Let’s do some gift-packs leading up to Christmas,” Geeta said.

Selling a whopping 50 boxes within the first three weeks of launch, the duo were inundated with love for their newly formed partnership and before long were floating ideas on how they could expand the Three Spice offering.

“We decided on the cooking experience because we wanted people to learn how to cook with the spices but also to gain the knowledge of what spices to use for certain dishes and to learn the qualities and benefits of these spices.”

The private and incredibly intimate cooking experiences take place in a beautifully presented cottage located in Cardiff Heights. Keen foodies will be taken on a flavour-filled spice journey where you’ll learn to cook your own authentic curry. The private cooking experience is available for up to six people, giving you the ultimate intimate cooking experience, unlike anything else available in Newcastle.

“It really feels like you’re walking into someone’s home, which is a big part of the Malaysian food experience.”

Whilst you’re going to learn all about how to cook with the flavoursome spices by Surasa, it’s just as much about spice education.

“There is a lesson component to what we do. I’m that real chatterbox that keeps everyone relaxed and engaged during the experience, but Geeta comes to the table with all this fabulous spice knowledge that most people wouldn’t otherwise know about,” Linda said.

The Malaysian Cooking Experiences run for three hours, and guests will learn how to make a spice cocktail, experience an entrée with chutneys, make a chicken curry, lemon rice, and raita, before finishing with chocolate and Surasa tea. New classes such as Indian Vegetarian Feast or Tamarind Seafood Curry will be introduced this year in March 2022. 

The lovely ladies have also recently joined The Olive Tree Market creatives with plans to be popping up at the monthly creative and design market for the foreseeable future. You can get your hands on your own Three Spice Experience Boxes, browse the Surasa Range and Clay Crush Collection as well as chatting to both Geeta and Linda about their Malaysian Cooking Experiences.

Whether it’s a dedicated cooking experience, a flavour-filled gift box, colourful ceramics, or even a little bit of take-home spice you’re after, you’ve got the explore what the girls at Three Spice have on offer.