Food Safari

Food Safari is an Australian television food series presented by Maeve O'Meara and produced by Kismet Productions^[1] in association with SBS TV Australia, and explores the cuisines brought to Australia by its immigrants. From seasons 1 to 4, each episode covered a cuisine from a particular culture, including commonly used ingredients and where to obtain them in Australia, the preparation and consumption of 'popular favourites', basic dishes and desserts/sweets. Seasons five to seven, whilst still covering Australian cuisine, focused on the basic elements involved in food preparation, with Food Safari Fire consisting of barbecuing, grilling and smoking of meat and vegetables, Food Safari Earth consisting of vegetarian dishes and focusing on European fermentation and preservation of vegetables, and Food Safari Water which focused on seafood.

Food Safari
Genre	Documentary, food
Created by	Kismet Productions
Developed by	Maeve O'Meara Toufic Charabati
Presented by	Maeve O'Meara
Starring	Maeve O'Meara
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	Main series: 6 Spin-off series: 2
No. of episodes	Main series: 80 Spin-off series: 22
Production
Producers	Maeve O'Meara Toufic Charabati
Running time	25 minutes
Production company	Kismet Productions
Release
Original network	SBS TV
Original release	1 June 2006 (2006-06-01) – present

The series garnered two spin-off seasons, Italian Food Safari and French Food Safari, which first aired in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In both seasons, O'Meara is joined by a chef experienced in the food of that culture, with Guy Grossi co-presenting in Italian Food Safari and french-born Australian chef, Guillaume Brahimi sharing the presenting duties in French Food Safari.

Food Safari was commissioned for a fourth series which began on February 14, 2013.^[2] An episode featuring bush tucker went to air on 4 March 2013.^[3][4] A fifth season began airing from January 7, 2016.^[5] A sixth season began airing from October 12, 2017.^[6]

Series overview

Series	Title	Episodes		Originally aired		Average viewers
				First aired	Last aired
1	Series 1	13		6 December 2006 (2006-12-06)	28 February 2007 (2007-02-28)	281,000^[7]
2	Series 2	12		5 December 2007 (2007-12-05)	20 February 2008 (2008-02-20)	359,000^[8]
3	Series 3	9		3 December 2008 (2008-12-03)	4 February 2009 (2009-02-04)	379,000^[9]
S	Italian	13		18 March 2010 (2010-03-18)	10 June 2010 (2010-06-10)	TBA
S	French	9		23 June 2011 (2011-06-23)	18 August 2011 (2011-08-18)	TBA
4	Series 4	10		14 February 2013 (2013-02-14)	18 April 2013 (2013-04-18)	453,000^[10]
5	Fire	10		7 January 2016 (2016-01-07)	10 March 2016 (2016-03-10)	400,000^[11]
6	Earth	13		12 October 2017 (2017-10-12)	4 January 2018 (2018-01-04)	257,667
7	Water	13		1 August 2018 (2018-08-01)	14 November 2018 (2018-11-14)	154,910

Episodes

Series 1 (2006-07)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date
1	1	"Moroccan"	6 December 2006 (2006-12-06)
2	2	"Malaysian"	13 December 2006 (2006-12-13)
3	3	"Portuguese"	20 December 2006 (2006-12-20)
4	4	"Greek"	27 December 2006 (2006-12-27)
5	5	"Vietnamese"	3 January 2007 (2007-01-03)
6	6	"Indian"	10 January 2007 (2007-01-10)
7	7	"Chinese"	17 January 2007 (2007-01-17)
8	8	"Italian"	24 January 2007 (2007-01-24)
9	9	"Thai"	31 January 2007 (2007-01-31)
10	10	"Lebanese"	7 February 2007 (2007-02-07)
11	11	"Mexican"	14 February 2007 (2007-02-14)
12	12	"Turkish"	21 February 2007 (2007-02-21)
13	13	"Spanish"	28 February 2007 (2007-02-28)

Series 2 (2007-08)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date
14	1	"Japanese"	5 December 2007 (2007-12-05)
15	2	"French"	12 December 2007 (2007-12-12)
16	3	"Indonesian"	19 December 2007 (2007-12-19)
17	4	"Maltese"	26 December 2007 (2007-12-26)
18	5	"Pakistani"	2 January 2008 (2008-01-02)
19	6	"Croatian"	9 January 2008 (2008-01-09)
20	7	"Singaporean"	16 January 2008 (2008-01-16)
21	8	"Hungarian"	23 January 2008 (2008-01-23)
22	9	"Sri Lankan"	30 January 2008 (2008-01-30)
23	10	"Brazilian"	6 February 2008 (2008-02-06)
24	11	"Korean"	13 February 2008 (2008-02-13)
25	12	"Mauritian"	20 February 2008 (2008-02-20)

Series 3 (2008-09)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date	Aus viewers (millions)
26	1	"South American"	3 December 2008 (2008-12-03)
27	2	"Egyptian"	10 December 2008 (2008-12-10)
28	3	"German"	17 December 2008 (2008-12-17)
29	4	"Persian"	24 December 2008 (2008-12-24)
30	5	"English"	7 January 2009 (2009-01-07)	513,000^[12]
31	6	"African"	14 January 2009 (2009-01-14)	409,000^[13]
32	7	"Syrian"	21 January 2009 (2009-01-21)
33	8	"American"	28 January 2009 (2009-01-28)	448,000^[14]
34	9	"Jewish"	4 February 2009 (2009-02-04)

Series 4 (2013)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date	Aus viewers (millions)
35	1	"Darwin"	14 February 2013 (2013-02-14)	238,000^[15]
36	2	"Peruvian"	21 February 2013 (2013-02-21)	221,000^[16]
37	3	"Cypriot"	28 February 2013 (2013-02-28)	270,000^[17]
38	4	"Filipino"	7 March 2013 (2013-03-07)	244,000^[18]
39	5	"South African"	14 March 2013 (2013-03-14)	244,000^[19]
40	6	"Laotian"	21 March 2013 (2013-03-21)	273,000^[20]
41	7	"Polish"	28 March 2013 (2013-03-28)	N/A
42	8	"Afghan"	4 April 2013 (2013-04-04)	N/A
43	9	"Danish"	11 April 2013 (2013-04-11)	356,000^[21]
44	10	"Broome"	18 April 2013 (2013-04-18)	384,000^[22]

Fire: Series 5 (2016)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date	Aus viewers (millions)
45	1	"Cooking with Fire"	7 January 2016 (2016-01-07)	263,000^[23]
46	2	"Street Food"	14 January 2016 (2016-01-14)	240,000^[24]
47	3	"The Wood-fired Oven"	21 January 2016 (2016-01-21)	299,000^[25]
48	4	"Grilling Passionate"	28 January 2016 (2016-01-28)	293,000^[26]
49	5	"The Tandoor"	4 February 2016 (2016-02-04)	314,000^[27]
50	6	"Spit-roasting"	11 February 2016 (2016-02-11)	314,000^[28]
51	7	"Pots and Pans"	18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)	302,000^[29]
52	8	"Asian Barbecue"	25 February 2016 (2016-02-25)	300,000^[30]
53	9	"Smoking"	3 March 2016 (2016-03-03)	241,000^[31]
54	10	"Barbecue Safari"	10 March 2016 (2016-03-10)	258,000^[32]

Earth: Series 6 (2017)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date	Aus viewers (millions)
55	1	"The New Green"	12 October 2017 (2017-10-12)	244,000^[33]
56	2	"Staples"	19 October 2017 (2017-10-19)	256,000^[34]
57	3	"Spring"	26 October 2017 (2017-10-26)	248,000^[35]
58	4	"Legumes"	2 November 2017 (2017-11-02)	271,000^[36]
59	5	"Herbs and Spices"	9 November 2017 (2017-11-09)	249,000^[37]
60	6	"Summer"	16 November 2017 (2017-11-16)	282,000^[38]
61	7	"Flowers"	23 November 2017 (2017-11-23)	239,000^[39]
62	8	"Stuffed, Rolled and Wrapped"	30 December 2017 (2017-12-30)	269,000^[40]
63	9	"Tropic and Exotic"	7 December 2017 (2017-12-07)	261,000^[41]
64	10	"Autumn"	14 December 2017 (2017-12-14)	N/A
65	11	"Sweet and Sour"	21 December 2017 (2017-12-21)	N/A
66	12	"Preserving and Fermenting"	28 December 2017 (2017-12-28)	N/A
67	13	"Winter"	4 January 2018 (2018-01-04)	N/A

Water: Series 7 (2018)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date	Aus viewers (millions)
68	1	"From the Water"	1 August 2018 (2018-08-01)	172,000^[42]
69	2	"Sea Treasures"	8 August 2018 (2018-08-08)	170,000^[43]
70	3	"Whole Fish"	15 August 2018 (2018-08-15)	N/A
71	4	"Raw"	22 August 2018 (2018-08-22)	118,000^[44]
72	5	"Fish Bites"	19 September 2018 (2018-09-19)	143,000^[45]
73	6	"Fish on Fire"	26 September 2018 (2018-09-26)	153,000^[46]
74	7	"Shellfish"	3 October 2018 (2018-10-03)	139,000^[47]
75	8	"One Pot"	10 October 2018 (2018-10-10)	163,000^[48]
76	9	"Preserved"	17 October 2018 (2018-10-17)	155,000^[49]
77	10	"Surf and Turf"	24 October 2018 (2018-10-24)	124,000^[50]
78	11	"Freshwater"	31 October 2018 (2018-10-31)	185,000^[51]
79	12	"Feel Good Fish"	7 November 2018 (2018-11-07)	182,000^[52]
80	13	"Festive Fish"	26 December 2018 (2018-12-26)	N/A

Spin-off series

Italian Food Safari (2010)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date
1	1	"Episode 1"	18 March 2010 (2010-03-18)
2	2	"Episode 2"	25 March 2010 (2010-03-25)
3	3	"Episode 3"	1 April 2010 (2010-04-01)
4	4	"Episode 4"	8 April 2010 (2010-04-08)
5	5	"Episode 5"	15 April 2010 (2010-04-15)
6	6	"Episode 6"	22 April 2010 (2010-04-22)
7	7	"Episode 7"	29 April 2010 (2010-04-29)
8	8	"Episode 8"	6 May 2010 (2010-05-06)
9	9	"Episode 9"	13 May 2010 (2010-05-13)
10	10	"Episode 10"	20 May 2010 (2010-05-20)
11	11	"Episode 11"	27 May 2010 (2010-05-27)
12	12	"Episode 12"	3 June 2010 (2010-06-03)
13	13	"Episode 13"	10 June 2010 (2010-06-10)

French Food Safari (2011)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date
1	14	"Episode 1"	23 June 2011 (2011-06-23)
2	15	"Episode 2"	30 June 2011 (2011-06-30)
3	16	"Episode 3"	7 July 2011 (2011-07-07)
4	17	"Episode 4"	14 July 2011 (2011-07-14)
5	18	"Episode 5"	21 July 2011 (2011-07-21)
6	19	"Episode 6"	28 July 2011 (2011-07-28)
7	20	"Episode 7"	4 August 2011 (2011-08-04)
8	21	"Episode 8"	11 August 2011 (2011-08-11)
9	22	"Episode 9"	18 August 2011 (2011-08-18)

Home media

Title	DVD release dates				Special features
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
			Australia	New Zealand
Food Safari	—	—	6 June 2007^[53]	11 July 2007^[54]
Food Safari 2	—	—	21 February 2008^[55]	20 March 2008^[56]
Food Safari 3	—	—	18 March 2009^[57]	—
Italian Food Safari	—	—	2 June 2010^[58]	—	160 minutes of bonus material.^[59]
French Food Safari	—	—	3 August 2011^[60]	—	90 minutes of bonus material.^[61]
Food Safari 4	—	—	6 March 2013^[62]	11 April 2013^[63]
Food Safari Fire	—	—	3 February 2016^[64]	10 March 2016^[65]
Food Safari Earth	—	—	19 December 2018^[66]	10 January 2019^[67]
Food Safari Water	—	—	19 December 2018^[68]	10 January 2019^[69]
Food Safari Elements: Earth, Water & Fire	—	—	20 March 2019^[70]	—

References

1. Kismet Productions
2. "Returning: Food Safari". TV Tonight. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
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53. "Food Safari - Series 1". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
54. "Food Safari". MightyApe. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
55. "Food Safari 2". Booktopia. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
56. "Food Safari 2 (2 Disk Set)". MightyApe. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
57. "Food Safari: Series 3". Sanity. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
58. "Italian Food Safari". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
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61. "French Food Safari". Booktopia. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
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65. "Food Safari Fire". MightyApe. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
66. "Food Safari Earth". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
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68. "Food Safari: Water". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
69. "Food Safari - Water". Retrieved 28 January 2019.
70. "Food Safari Elements Box Set - Earth, Water & Fire". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 28 January 2019.

External links

• Food Safari website on SBS.com.au
• Interview with Maeve O'Meara