Delicious frozen herbs
Easy Cubes frozen herbs a cool idea for cooks
EASY Cubes filled with ready-to-use frozen herbs are coming your way — thanks to the inventiveness of Mareeba couple and thirdgeneration farmers Sebastian and Cyrene Torrisi.
A MAREEBA couple’s zesty idea will soon land on supermarket shelves throughout the Far North under a deal that could cultivate a new industry.
Sebastian and Cyrene Torrisi are the creators of Easy Cubes, a line of individually portioned, frozen herbs sourced from their own farm as well as others in Queensland and interstate.
At present they supply Atherton IGA, Cairns Bulk Meats and Jonsson’s Farm Market, and are poised to launch Easy Cubes into eight local Coles stores.
“Hopefully we can expand with Coles nationally in the next year or two,” Sebastian said.
“We’ve got interest from overseas, Japanese restaurants are looking at it and we’ve had a little bit of interest from the Middle East.
“We would like to add a few more lines that we can grow locally. It would be good to start a new industry for the area.”
The Torrisis are third-generation farmers and also produce sugarcane, mangoes and baby leaf spinach at their 145ha Mareeba property.
The Easy Cubes idea was hatched three years ago after they started growing their own garlic.
“We grew too much, so we decided to preserve it by freezing it in an ice-cube tray,” Sebastian said.
“We thought this would be a great idea because other people would want to do the same thing.
“They’re good for use in marinades, salad dressings, pasta sauces and dips,” Cyrene said. Sebastian said Easy Cubes’ composition set them apart from other herb products on the market.
“Our product is more concentrated – 96 per cent garlic, 92 per cent basil, 92 per cent coriander and 98 per cent chilli,” he said.
“Whereas other companies have a lower concentration rate and use emulsifiers, sugars and sweeteners to stretch the product further and give it a longer shelf life.”
Easy Cubes was an entrant in the inventors competition at Rotary FNQ Field Days, held in Mareeba last week.