Media Releases

Tetsuya Wakuda's Taste of Tasmania

In this splendid new DVD from Australian Gourmet Traveller, it's hard to decide what's more delectable - the magnificent Tasmanian landscapes or the sensational dishes created by acclaimed chef Tetsuya Wakuda.

In company with bon vivant and recent Tasmanian lifestyle convert Leo Schofield, Tetsuya journeys across the island state, discovering the superb produce that has made Tasmania famous and meeting the people who grow and harvest it.

Leo is Australian Gourmet Traveller's editor-at-large, a gig he describes as the best job in the world - and it's easy to see why, as he and Tets savour freshly-shucked, salt-sweet Freycinet oysters at Coles Bay; tuck into a succulent slice of Wagyu beef, hot off the barbecue at Robbins Island in Bass Strait; drizzle leatherwood honey over a slice of blue cheese; or select a sleek ocean trout from the waters of Macquarie Harbour. It's all just another hard day at the office.

"Tasmania's fresh ingredients are already so special, very special," Tetsuya says. "They need very simple care for a beautiful food experience."

His approach to preparing Tasmania's wonderful seafood and beef is quite remarkable - at times, revolutionary.

"Slow, it must be slow," Tetsuya explains, as he repeatedly turns on a warm griddle a beautiful piece of the grass-fed beef that commands $300 a kilogram in Tokyo. No hot and fast sizzling here!

The creation of his signature dish - confit of ocean trout - is similarly slow, the fillet gently poached in oil at a low temperature to stay soft and moist. Leo tells us that this is probably the world's most photographed dish and it certainly is a work of art - the red-pink flesh of the trout glowing like a sunset above its horizon of shaved fennel, circled by half-moons of wakame and trout roe dressing.

On their Tasmanian journey, Tetsuya and Leo meet abalone divers, beekeepers, vegetable farmers and lobster fishermen; they explore out-of-the-way destinations like the historic seaside village of Stanley and the fishing port of Bicheno; and they talk to woodworkers, walnut growers and winemakers around the island.

One of the special bonus features of the DVD is the section in which Tetsuya demonstrates his step-by-step approach to preparing five brilliant dishes - the ocean trout described above; his inventive combination of blue cheese and leatherwood honey; roasted Tasmanian crayfish; Wagyu steak; and a simply amazing recipe for slow pan-roasted abalone.

The DVD also gives Australian Gourmet Traveller readers an opportunity to win a six-night Pure Tasmania holiday, retracing the steps of Tetsuya and Leo around the island, staying at Cradle Mountain Chateau, The Strahan Village and Freycinet Lodge.

If you love fine food, enjoy great cool-climate wines and appreciate spectacular natural landscapes, you'll be glad you joined Tetsuya Wakuda and Leo Schofield on their Australian Gourmet Traveller taste of Tasmania.

Tetsuya's Taste of Tasmania DVD was in the September issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine, which went on sale August 21.

For Tetsuya's "Taste of Tasmania" Gourmet Breaks visit www.tastravel.com.au.