This month’s adventure took me to Woolooga, a tiny town half an hour North West of Gympie, to visit the legendary Cecilia”CC”Diaz-Peterson, her husband Greg and his mum and dad, Jo and Pat on their 50 acre farm just off Woolooga Rd.

The family grows an incredible array of fresh produce including heirloom tomatoes, garlic, snow peas, zucchinis, broccoli, pak choi, kale and coriander, much of which they sell to local retailers as well as interstate.

But the real magic happens in CC’s tiny kitchen where she takes whatever produce is in season and transforms it into her range of pickles, chutneys, jams and relishes.

I first met CC at a trade show and was instantly impressed with the uniqueness of her products, her Phillipino heritage shining through in the form of Green Papaya Pickle, Mango Chutney and Pickled Okra. When I visited the farm she sent me home with a container of her Longaniza sausages(a kind of Portugese/Phillipino hybrid) and they are now officially my favourite sausage of all time.

You’ll find CC selling her products at the Maryborough Heritage Markets every Thursday, 1st Saturday of the month at the Pier Park-up Hervey Bay Markets, 3rd Saturday at Tin Ca Bay Markets, 2nd and 4th Sundays at Koala Markets, Hervey Bay and 1st and 3rd Sundays at Nikenbah Hervey Bay Markets. Her range is also stocked in shops all over the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay regions.

If you’re heading through Woolooga you could also pop in to the Petersons roadside stall and stock up on freshly picked fruit and veges as well as some of CC’s creations. The farm is about 10km North of the township.

On my first trip out to visit CC, I stopped at the Woolooga Pub for some refreshments and discovered the town boasts not just one, but two great places to eat.

The Rusty Ute Cafe run by Peter and Jo Williams, is a cool little rock and roll joint where you can get a mighty burger and a coffee, buy a souvenir, some art work and get a hair cut!

Next door is Klassic Cafe, which looks like a regular country town cafe/takeaway, but as well as offering chips, sandwiches, pies and other regular cafe fare, the girls show off their Indian heritage by making a range of truly authentic currys and accompaniments. I couldn’t resist trying their Butter Chicken and I have to say it’s the best I’ve ever eaten.

It’s so nice to stop for a break in such a tiny town and be spoilt for choice for lunch.  Woolooga is a great resting point on the way to Biggenden, or just a great place to go for a country drive on the weekend.

This month I’ve taken green papaya, snake beans, cherry tomatoes and coriander from the Petersons farm, and put them with fresh coral trout and cooked prawns from Lee Fishing Company in Tin Can Bay, Sandy Creek Macadamias and Chilli and Lime Salt from Suncoast Limes.

Enjoy!

Chilli and Lime Coral Trout with Green Papaya and Prawn Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 x 180g fillets of coral trout

1 tsp Suncoast Limes Chilli and Lime Salt

200gm cooked and peeled prawns

1 green papaya, peeled and shredded

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

1 bunch snake beans or small green beans

2 tbs roasted macadamias, roughly chopped

1 cl garlic

1 shallot

1 red chilli

2 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs lime juice

1 tbs palm sugar

¼ cup coriander leaves

Method:

In a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic, shallot and red chilli to a paste.

Mix in the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar, then add the beans and pound gently without losing their shape. Add the papaya, tomatoes, prawns and macadamias and mix gently to combine. Mix in half of the coriander leaves.

Season the coral trout fillets with chilli and lime salt and grill in a pan or on a BBQ until just cooked through.

Arrange the salad on 4 plates and top each with a coral trout fillet.

Pour over the excess dressing and sprinkle with the remaining coriander leaves.