Tetsuya Wakuda grew up in the Japanese town of Hamamatsu. At the age of 22 his thirst for new experiences brought him to Australia. Starting off in Sydney as a kitchen hand, his real love of cooking was realised when he met Sydney chef Tony Bilson who employed him to make sushi. It was while working for Tony that Tetsuya learnt the classical French technique which forms such an important part of his style today. His unique approach to food combined with his culinary philosophy which centres on pure, clean flavours, his Asian heritage, worldwide travels and insatiable curiosity have all played an important role in making Tetsuya one of Australia’s, if not the world’s, most renowned chef.

At Colin James you can purchase his wonderful Tetsuya’s for Oysters which is a combination of grapeseed oil, rice vinegar, soy and ginger and is delicious served over freshly shucked oysters. His vinaigrette is perfect drizzled lightly over salad greens while his Black Truffle Salsa for Butter, when mixed with a little olive oil, is perfect for tossing through hot pasta or stirred through scrambled eggs. Why not try it combined with butter and parmesan cheese to make a delicious truffle butter.

The 200 acre Pukara Estate is located at Muswellbrook between the Barrington Tops National Park and the world Heritage listed Wollemi National Park. Bruce Eglington, the founder and planter of the original trees, chose the area for its climate, position, soil and reliable water supply. The greatest care is taken in handling the olives from harvest through production, in their state of the art processing and storage facilities, to guarantee that the freshest product reaches customers throughout each season. Steve Goodchild, one of Australia’s leading olive experts, manages the estate to world best practice standards to produce premium extra virgin olive oil that has won an award in every show its been entered into, including the prestigious Australian Olive Association National Shows.