For years I relied on hamburgers once every day or two for a proper feed when travelling.\u00a0 All five food groups\u00a0 – cereals (roll), dairy (cheese), meat (mince and maybe steak as well, and certainly bacon), salad (lettuce, fried onion, beetroot and tomato) and fruit (a pineapple ring).\u00a0 Plus a bit of barbeque sauce [certainly not pickles, mayonnaise or any of those\u00a0other un-Australian, heart-attack inducing\u00a0additions].\u00a0\u00a0 A good hamburger while on the road is impossible to beat!\u00a0 You can eat it driving along if you’re smart enough to keep it cooped up in the sheet of paper and paper bag it comes in (nothing worse than dripping beetroot juice when you’re trying to keep an eye out for errant\u00a0roos and emus).\u00a0 And all for less than $10.<\/p>\n
Then some lazy service station operators discovered those absolutely detestable, foul, frozen patties made of over-seasoned sausage material.\u00a0 Absolutely gross tasting and with the texture of rough rubber.<\/p>\n
A tragedy, and one that has spread throughout the bush.<\/p>\n
So if I’m ordering a hamburger I now always ask if will come with ‘real meat’ (as in proper mince).\u00a0 Just in the last few years, the answer is usually ‘no’.\u00a0 So instead I usually buy food such as fruit, dry biscuits and choccy milk in supermarkets (eg Tambo, a favourite).\u00a0 Especially when there’s no good bakeries within a day or so’s drive.<\/p>\n
Every now and then I strike gold.\u00a0 For example we recently found a service station in Charleville that makes real hamburgers, as good as you’d get anywhere on the road.\u00a0 They make their own hamburger patties out of\u00a0real mince! \u00a0It’s the Charleville BP-Ausfuel service station in Wells Street.\u00a0 The downside is that everyone else in and around town seems to know they make\u00a0non-greasy\u00a0hamburgers\u00a0with all the right ingredients and it seems to be always busy.\u00a0 Plus one of the older members of staff can get a bit tense (especially if you’re rushing off to the star observatory; but don’t let that put you off; a good feed is a good feed).\u00a0 The trick is to order, fill the car up, walk south for a block to the main street stretching the legs\u00a0then come back and the feed should be nearly ready.<\/p>\n