Jill Rowe and Patrick Aldred, Owners of Spice Bazaar

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Residents of Seddon, Food and snorkelling/diving enthusiasts

We met while we were still in Year 12, doing casual work at the lighting department in Melton Bunnings. We were magnetised towards each other (insider joke). Melton then was quite small. We would walk across paddocks and straight to school.

When Patrick’s Dad first moved to Melton in 1969, it had a population of 2,000. Patrick’s Mum was born in Greece, and came to Melbourne with her brother for a better life. Patrick’s Dad was in the Air Force so the family moved around a lot. As a result of that, there were sibling births all around Australia. Patrick – the eldest – was born in Darwin, followed by another brother in Canberra. A third brother was born in Darwin again, and a fourth brother in Newcastle. A fifth sister was born in Melbourne, twenty years later!

Jill’s family is from the Grampians, and Jill – also the oldest – is one of four siblings. Jill’s Dad secured a job in Melton, and that’s where they lived until the kids all finished school.

We bought our first house in Severn Street for $38,000 in the mid-80s when there were no young people or renovated houses. We remember our neighbour introducing himself to us and asking how much we paid for the house. “You are kidding me! You paid too much!” he quipped.

Those were the days when interest rates were very high. Yarraville Village was closing down, and all the Greeks and Italians were moving out. The Sun Theatre was inhabited by squatters, and there was little there. We have certainly see it change over the years.

We sold our Severn Street house in 1997 and bought in Bayview Road for $117,000. We still live there with our two sons, Aaron and Jordan. Aaron is completing his Sports Science degree, and Jordan has just completed his first year in Science.

When we completed uni, we both had a library and information science background. We bought a Kombi van and travelled around Europe for seven months. Over the years, we would work and save to travel more, and began brainstorming what we could create for ourselves to follow our real passion.

Spices is where we ended up but we initially had tea blending in mind. However, T2 just opened up so we decided to look elsewhere. We had two little kids then, who didn’t particularly like interesting food. We would cook a stir fry or a casserole and serve them, then adding extra flavour with the spice blends for ourselves.

There was not a lot of competitors for spice blends back then. People thought it was exciting! We started with up a pop up store at Yarraville West Primary School’s fete, and there was nothing left by the end of the day. Everything just snowballed from there!

We wanted to take it a step further and follow our passion for cooking. Our initial success was dramatic as we started putting our spices into stores and gourmet delis. To this day, we are an established business purely based on our solid following across a few key outlets in SA, QLD, TAS and VIC.

The name Spice Bazaar came about as we wanted a name that reflected Middle Eastern spices, something we became known for, and still are known for.

The spice business itself has never needed a shop. We would produce the blends, and drop by the kitchen (where Charles and Gamon is now) to blend them. We took our spices to farmers’ markets, food festivals and exhibitions. We took it all on the road to Sydney, Adelaide. Brisbane and Perth and would travel for three or four days. The gigs were gruelling but heaps of fun; meeting the people is the best way to connect with potential customers. We enjoyed it a lot.

The idea of our own cooking school kicked off after Patrick started getting involved in cooking demonstrations. We realised there were not many cooking schools in Melbourne. One cooking school in Adelaide had employed us to do a cooking class or two, and we thought, “Why don’t we take our business down this path?” Rather than being employed by other people, we can do it ourselves.

This current premise very nearly didn’t happen, as we were eyeing the lease for the shop where African taste Bar && Cafe currently is now. It was, however, a little small. When 79 Victoria Street came up for lease, we realised it was a better shop and opportunity. It was previously a café and the infrastructure was all in place.

Back then, we were seen as far away from the Seddon shops. There used to be a second-hand boat yard where Common Galaxia is now. There was nothing around us. People didn’t walk past as this was not part of the strip. They would stop at Seddon Deadly Sins and turn around.

There were milk bars, but this stretch of shops had no drawcards like Alfa Bakehouse Yarraville, Mozzarella Bar, A.Bongiovanni && Son Pty Ltd or Seddon Wine Store. A lot of these funky places spawned after Yarraville began growing. We think Seddon has a more mature vibe than Yarraville. It reflects our customers.

People join our classes and are able to make new likeminded friends as it’s a very social environment. They love it as not only do they learn a lot of cooking techniques, they get to sit, dine and wine together.

Preparing onions and garlic is the cornerstone to every cuisine. We focus on prep skills, techniques and processes targeting each cuisine specifically, inspiring beginner, intermediate or confident cooks. We generally cook, hands-on, seven to eight dishes in a class, including an entrée and main dining, which differentiates us from many other cooking schools in Melbourne. People love it and we have a high percentage of repeat customers.

Our range now includes around 50 spice blends. Our only regret is not having started the business earlier. Our son Jordan has decided to switch his focus to Music as that’s his passion. It’s interesting how he says to us “I’ve listened to you, and you did what you had to do, not what you wanted to do.”

We love travelling for mainly three things – food, snorkelling and scuba diving. We like travelling to Borneo (East Malaysia), Sulawesi, Lombok and Bali (Indonesia) and also QLD. One of our favourite cities to visit is Kuala Lumpur. It has a combination of so many cultures. You can get a roti for breakfast, a char kway teow for lunch and a rendang for dinner. Hawaii is fantastic too, for that unexpected mix of food cultures.

We have recently signed a contract with a company in Dubai. They have invested in our business and very soon our products will be sold there. Coincidentally, last weekend we launched our new dumplings tour in Melbourne CBD, which will add to our current Footscray Food Tour. Participating in the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival annually for the last five years has given us the impetus to develop and deliver new food experiences. 2017 definitely has had some significant highlights.

In 2018, we’re looking forward to visiting Japan (for food reconnaissance of course), and also Kalimantan as there is a remote snorkelling and diving location there. Apparently, it’s one of the World’s Top Two destinations in the world for marine life diversity. We plan to grow the Spice Bazaar experience, in all its aspects, and make sure to look out for our new Japanese, Ethiopian and Turkish cooking classes. Taste the World with Spice Bazaar!

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