Fernvale is a town in the Somerset Region, about 61 kilometres west of central Brisbane, with a population of 3,629 at the 2021 census. The bakery on the Brisbane Valley Highway is a local landmark, and the old butcher shop still looks much as it always has. The Somerset Region, also called the Brisbane Valley after the river that runs through it, is mainly agricultural, and holds Lake Wivenhoe and Somerset Dam, which supply water to South East Queensland.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
This moment in the journey
Meat for dinner from the butcher
I bought the makings of dinner at the butcher, a red-roofed weatherboard shop with a sign of a cow against the blue sky. Meat lay in the chilled cases, and on the shelves were barbecue rubs and recipe booklets for lamb and beef. I picked up the meat for tonight's main dish.
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More notes from this journey
Somerset Region, Queensland
Bacon and eggs with the owner's fresh eggs
Eggs fresh from the farm owner's hens, fried in an iron pan alongside bacon.
From: Borrowing a small house in the Australian countryside
Somerset Region, Queensland
Barbecued kangaroo steak
Kangaroo from the town butcher, grilled on the barbecue in the yard.
From: Borrowing a small house in the Australian countryside
Somerset Region, Queensland
The Australian meat pie
A hand-sized pie of minced or diced meat in gravy, baked in pastry.
From: Borrowing a small house in the Australian countryside
Somerset Region, Queensland
Lamington
Squares of sponge or butter cake dipped in chocolate sauce and rolled in coconut.
From: Borrowing a small house in the Australian countryside
Somerset Region, Queensland
XXXX and Great Northern, the beers of Queensland
XXXX is the beer of Castlemaine Perkins, a brewery founded in Brisbane in 1878; the XXXX brand dates from 1924 and is still brewed at Milton in Brisbane.
From: Borrowing a small house in the Australian countryside
Somerset Region, Queensland
Vegemite
A thick, dark brown spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with vegetable and spice additives: salty, slightly bitter and malty.
From: Borrowing a small house in the Australian countryside
More notes from Overseas
Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu
Longsilog
Silog is the name for a family of Filipino breakfasts built on garlic fried rice and a fried egg; the name changes with what comes alongside.
From: Everyday life on Mactan Island
Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu
Pancit canton (from instant noodles)
Pancit, noodles brought to the Philippines by Chinese immigrants, has become a full part of Filipino cooking.
From: Everyday life on Mactan Island
Hualien, Taiwan
Breakfast of purple waxy corn and Taiwanese sweet potato
In Taiwan, breeders have developed sweet waxy corn that carries both sweet kernels and sticky waxy kernels on a single cob.
From: Hualien: the sea and delicious everyday life
Hualien, Taiwan
Taiwanese instant zhajiangmian set
Wei Lih zhajiangmian is an instant dry noodle launched in Taiwan in 1973 by Wei Lih Food Industrial.
From: Hualien: the sea and delicious everyday life
Hsinchu, Taiwan
Xian doujiang (savory soy milk soup)
A classic Taiwanese breakfast.
From: An apartment in Hsinchu and the steam of the night market
Hsinchu, Taiwan
Hsinchu rice vermicelli (instant)
Hsinchu rice vermicelli has a history of more than 150 years.
From: An apartment in Hsinchu and the steam of the night market