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Gourmet Experiences - QUEENSLAND

Food and wine trails

Taste Paradise Food Trails: explore the tropical produce of tropical North Queensland, from prime beef, pork and poultry, wild and farmed tropical seafood, creamy dairy milk, yoghurts, cheeses, tropical Asian vegetables, herbs and spices, a vast selection of exotic tropical fruits, tropical wines and liquers, Indigenous foods, nuts, chocolate, preserves, chutney and sauces, fruit wines, herbs, honey, vanilla, to temperate climate vegetables, fruits herbs and spices available locally at select retailers, markets, roadside stalls and  restaurants. Tea and coffee are both grown in tropical North Queensland, and many plantations are open to inspect, and to taste and purchase their produce. Mountain Tablelands Food Trail | Coral Coast Food Trail | Savannah Trablelands | Rainforest Food Trail | Cassowary Coast. See also: Australian Tropical Foods

Granite Belt: noted for its grand waterfalls, its spectacular and unusual rock formations and the variety of wildflowers that bloom in the mountains during July and August, the Granite Belt is also home to Queensland’s premier wine region (Granite Belt Wine Country). The area is popular with prospectors, rubies, sapphires, garnets and topaz have ben found in the creeks. More >>

Unique gourmet produce

SexyCat Marshmallow Liqueur
Mt. Uncle Distillery on the Atherton Tablelands is North Queensland’s first and only distillery. Set in landscaped gardens on a plantation that grows Banana, Avocado and Macadamia nuts, Mt. Uncle Distillery is home to a range of premium spirits and liqueurs. The range includes banana, coffee, mulberry, lime, lemon and plum liqueurs, but the piece de resistance is SexyCat, the world’s first and only marshmallow liqueur. Created using volcanic filtered vodka and the most luxurious of confectionary techniques, SexyCat is smooth, velvety with the unique taste of marshmallows.
Location: Mt. Uncle Distillery, 1819 Chewko Rd Walkamin, near Atherton, Qld

Brueys Bush Cherry Wine

Another place in the Atherton Tablelands we always include on any visit to the area is Brueys Boutique Winery of Mareeba. Here you can view the orchard, tour the winery and then top it off by sampling their exquisite range of world-class fruit wines made from lychee, mango, jaboticaba, bush cherry, mulberry and passionfruit. Their wine made from the bush cherry, a little known tropical native fruit of Far North Queensland, is a personal favourite. As with all bush tucker, the fruit is slightly tart to the taste, resulting in a crisp rosé style wine. The wine will maintain its youthful primary Bush Cherry flavours, including delicate berry, cherry and spice, for the next 18 months before the complexity of bottle development begins to weave its magic. Very few people know this fruit exists. It is harvested annually from wet coastal areas of Far North Queensland, and Brueys' orchard.
Location: Brueys Boutique Winery, 189 Fichera Road, Mareeba, Qld

Bobotie Sauce & Spices

Anyone who knows anything about South African cooking will know that Bobotie is a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. It is also made with curry powder leaving it with a slight "tang". Although not particularly spicy, the dish incorporates a variety of flavours that can add complexity. For example, the dried fruit (usually apricots and raisins/sultanas) contrasts the curry flavouring very nicely. The texture of the dish is also complex, with the baked egg mixture topping complementing the milk-soaked bread which adds moisture to the dish. The key ingredients for making Bobotie - in fact just about any other traditional South African dish - can be obtained from Gourmet Afrika, at picturesque Maleny, just north of Brisbane in the Blackall Ranges. They also have a Private Dining Range, consisting of quality, take home gourmet meals based on traditional South African dishes.
Location: Gourmet Afrika, 943 Maleny-Montville Road, Maleny, Qld

Shaylee Strawberry Jam

Atherton Tableland near Cairns, Qld, is known for its rich volcanic soil and temperate weather conditions that make it ideal for the cultivation of a variety of produce, from coffee and tea through to fruits and nuts. Outside the town of Atherton is Shaylee Strawberry Farm, which grows the festival and ruby gem varieties, known for their attractive fruit and superb flavour. Shaylee's home-made jams, ice creams and gelato are as delicious as the fruit from which they are made. We liked their Strawberry Jam so much, we bought a 1 kg jar of it home with us and cried for a week when it was all gone.
Location: Shaylee Strawberry Farm, Corner Gillies Highway & Marks Lane, Atherton, Qld

Maleny Buffalo Brie

Pioneering Maleny dairy farmers Mal and Margaret Thompson have teamed up with innovative businessman Markus Bucher to produce a range of buffalo products. The Thompsons have six milking buffalo at one of just three buffalo milking dairies in Australia - the other two are in Victoria and North Queensland (Millaa Millaa). Of the niche market that they so adequately fill, Margaret says, "People who have travelled in India, where the buffalo dairy industry is much larger than cows, recall the taste of buffalo milk with fondness. There's something special about it that sets it apart from cow's or even goat's milk." Maleny Buffalo Brie is a firm cheese with an earthy aroma that is pleasantly devoid of any traces of ammonia. Also in the Buffalo range is a Feta, Marinated Feta, Dip (cream cheese mixed with herbs, Herb Buffalino (cream cheese rolled in herbs, then marinated in oil), Quark, Ricotta, Buffalo Wash-Rind (a semi-hard cheese) and Yoghurt (flavoured and natural).
Location: Maleny Cheese, 1 Clifford St, Maleny, Qld

Golden Drop Mango Wine

When I first visited Golden Drop's tropical fruit winery near Mareeba in the Atherton Tablelands, I did so with the attitude of "I'll try anything once", not expecting mango wine to be anything special. Made by the Nastasi family from the Australian Kensington Red variety grown on their mango plantation at Bilboohra near Mareeba, Golden Drop mango wines have crisp intense fruity flavours on the palate and a delicate aftertaste, whilst remaining refreshing and light. They come in Dry (drink with curry and spicy foods), Medium (seafood or poultry) and Sweet varieties (cheese, fruit and dessert). You can purchase online or taste and buy at either the Golden Drop plantation near Mareeba, or at the New Kuranda Markets.

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Your Experiences ...

Has there been a gourmet food supplier you have visited whose produce you have found to be totally yummy? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Tell us a little about the product and the place when you came across it. You can either write the review yourself (feel free to send pics of the product), or simply advise us of the product and its manufacturer and we'll follow it up ourselves.
Our preference is for unique products that are not available at regular outlets across Australia, particularly those which are either unique to their locality or are made with ingredients unique to their locality.