A little of each town’s story
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. The brewer was acquired by Lion Nathan in 1992 and passed to Kirin in 2009. Besides the XXXX Gold on the pub taps, the XXXX Zero I drank with dinner is 0.0% alcohol. Great Northern, launched by Carlton & United Breweries in 2010 and brewed at Yatala, Queensland, was Australia's best-selling beer from 2021 to 2025.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
This moment in the journey
A barbecue with kangaroo steak
For dinner, a barbecue, the Australian way. I laid broccolini on the hotplate and grilled the main dish, kangaroo steak, over the grate, turning it with tongs so as not to overcook it. When I sliced it, the inside was a deep red.
Clean-tasting, delicious, and good for you as well. On the plate: the steak topped with rosemary, broccolini, berries and salad, with an alcohol-free XXXX Zero on the side. A luxurious evening, enjoyed slowly from the cooking onward.
Dinner under the wanted poster. This is how time rolls by, in a way unique to Australia. Then my eye fell on a jar on the table. Oh, I forgot to try the Vegemite.
Watch this scene on YouTube5:41
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
Fernvale and the Somerset Region
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.
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
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