Meet the Owner
Born and raised on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, Teresa Carew had instilled in her from an early age a love of good food, and the drama and fun associated with entertaining family and friends.

Teresa aims to capture the essence of comfort and pleasure in each and every one of the dishes she creates. Growing up in St. Francis Bay, surrounded by the rich bounty of the Eastern Cape, she developed a distinct appreciation for the freshest and finest that nature has to offer, spending many a day along the coast diving for oysters, mussels, fishing, and gathering water lilies and cress. An intrepid traveler, Teresa fell in love with French and Italian cuisine while on skiing trips as a teen. Teresa learned from her granny, her mother, and family friends Glynn Wooden and Freda Jabkowitz.

While majoring in European and African languages at the University of Cape Town, Teresa developed an appreciation for cultures. In her free time while at university, she also spent time studying nouvelle cuisine. After graduation, Teresa's traveling sales jobs (first pharmaceuticals, then windsurfers) took her throughout Southern Africa.

On her travels, Teresa developed a taste for: Lorenzo Marques prawns peri peri, a Portugese recipe from Mozambique's colonial days; Malay curries, from the Malay community that has been present for over 300 years; samosas from the Hindu community; melkterts, boerewors (coriander infused sausage) from the Dutch community that emigrated in the 17th century; and the etiquette of an English dinner.

After a couple of years of sales, Teresa returned to her second love, traveling to Mauritius, Europe, and the Middle East. Teresa realized that the best plan was to wed her two passions, cooking and traveling, in her job. She took a job as a cook on the sailing yacht Antares, and started on a trip from Cape Town to Rio. From there, Teresa moved to the Mariela, a charter yacht in the Caribbean. From those experiences, Teresa learned about indulging the customer. Teresa continued her journey, touring the U.S. and Canada. She then moved to London to reunite with her friend and cooking mentor, Glynn Woodin, now owner of the prestigious Mustard Catering Company. There, she had a trial by fire, working on high profile functions for clients that included Princess Margaret and the Duke of Wellington.

In 1985, Teresa returned to the U.S. and went to work as the catering manager at Italia, then to the Wedge, where she worked under the wings of Tina Bell and Fred Brack, who reinforced all she had learned about the innate beauty of food in its freshness and simplicity. Teresa then started a family. Always the entertainer, Teresa was finally pressed into service by friends to help uncork her magic for their own parties. And a catering company was born.

On Safari Foods, Inc., incorporated in 1992, was born out of a desire to produce great catered food and a line of South African ethnic sausages and other delicacies. Teresa's great joys in life are reflected in her motto: "Why stay where you are, when you can go On Safari!"