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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Food Safari-Series 3 (2008)

Food Safari-Series 3 (2008)

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Released 18-Mar-2009
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Lifestyle	Deleted Scenes-Over 80 minutes
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	225:35
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Toufic Charabati
Studio Distributor	SBS Madman Entertainment	Starring	Maeve O'Meara
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual	Starring	Maeve O'Meara
RPI	?	Music	Carlo Giacco

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, mostly bloopers

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

You may have noticed that I have reviewed quite a few cooking and food shows in my time on this site and this is my first opportunity to review a quality local food and cooking show, Food Safari. This Maeve O'Meara hosted show has been running for three seasons now on SBS television here in Australia. The concept here, as opposed to most cooking shows is that the focus is not on one or a small number of chefs but rather the host is more the official taster who goes on 'safari' to a different culture and cuisine in each episode. She visits professional chefs either in their workplace or their homes, or home cooks in their own kitchens and watches them prepare a dish and then shares it with them and sometimes their friends and family.

This particular release (the first by Madman Entertainment) features the nine episodes of Season 3, which first aired on SBS over Christmas/New Year 08/09. Considering that this series has now run to 35 episodes it must be becoming difficult to find extra cuisines to cover which may explain why this season is only 9 episodes when the previous ones were 13 each. The cuisines covered in this series are South American, Egyptian, German, Persian, English, African, Syrian, North American (incl. New Orleans and others) & Jewish.

Maeve is a good host who obviously has a great interest in different cuisines and cultures. The slightly repetitive nature of her responses to the dishes can grate on occasion. Regardless this is a wonderful show with lots of interesting dishes and big personalities.

The nine episodes are spread over two discs, with five on the first and four on the second. I was interested to note that Maeve runs a side business, Gourmet Safaris which offers safari tours of the various suburbs in Sydney which are the focus of the different cultures.

Recommended for foodies.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video quality is very good.

The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

The picture was quite clear and sharp very consistent with the digital television presentation. Shadow detail is very good.

The colour was excellent.

There were no noticeable artefacts.

There are no subtitles.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The audio quality is good.

This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s. It is very front and center focused even when processed using Pro Logic II.

Dialogue was clear and easy to understand throughout.

The music mostly consists of the theme tune which becomes a little too much over time.

The surround speakers were not used to any great degree but it is no really important for a show such as this.

The subwoofer was not used .

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

The extras are 16x9 enhanced.

Deleted Scenes (43:54 in total)

Disc 2

Deleted Scenes (39:45 in total)

Scenes are included which add to each episode on this disc. They are all worth watching and add more detail to some dishes and include what seem to be fairly unedited versions of how to make the dishes. A play all option would have been very welcome. A highlight here is the wonderful Kibbeh Nayeh (a dish made with raw lamb, but don't knock it until you have tried it).

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This is an All Region release.

Summary

A quality local cooking and cuisine show now into its third season.