En ons gaan nou braai !

In SA everyone loves to braai! Braai is a great way to socialize. Either at home, in a park, by the beach or in the university’s case during fieldwork. Last Monday was even clamed to be a National Braai Day (actually Heritage Day). The idea is to have lots and lots of meat and savour it in good company. Traditional braai is on wood, but many South Africans also use a weber now. The men cluster around the fire, first taking care of the coals and then cooking the meat, while the women make salads and side dishes. Everyone brings his own, but this is then put together so that eventually everyone eats a variety of meats.

Just your everyday supermarket, like the Spar

Wood

Weber

I’ve had boerwors (sausage), ribs, tjoppies (pork chops), Sosatie (brochettes), Kalahari steak, koedoe. What’s also common to eat during a braai are braaibroodjies filled and warmed on the fire or roosterkoek made from scratch (bread). What is a little strange for us, is that it is customary to use a lot of sugar.  

Below a recipe of what could be part of a braai:

“Boerwors, pap en sous

Boerewors is a specifically spiced whole meat sausage. True wors has very little fillers and much more meat. This comes in thick and thin portions. Cook your wors over a slowish fire until brown all the way through.

Pap:

Pap is a Mielie based porridge. Add 3 cups of mielie pap to a cup of cold water until smooth, add another 3 cups and some salt. Place pot on stove and heat until the pap is hot. Add more water if necessary. Reduce heat and cook slowly for 1 hour stirring and adding more water (if necessary) every 10 minutes. Serve with sauce.

Sauce

Grate an apple.
Finely chop an onion.
Crush two cloves of garlic.
Finely chop one tomato.
Fry in olive oil.

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons soya sauce. 
Add 1 can of chopped tomatoes.
Flavour with salt and pepper.
Cook until the onion is cooked and you have a thick sauce.
To serve: Place pap on plate, add a chunk of boerewors and top with sauce.”

While sitting around the fire the night progresses, many funny stories and jokes will be told:

“Three scientists are sitting at a pavement table outside a bar, enjoying a quiet pint. Across the road lies an empty building. Over the course of the afternoon, two people walk into the building and three people emerge.
 The physicist says, "There's been a measurement error. "
The biologist says, "It's reproduction. "
The mathematician says, "If exactly one person enters the building, it will be empty again."”

Let me end this post with 10 braai tips I found on www.braai.co.za

1.             Nothing beats a real wood fire.

2.             Gas is Afrikaans for a guest at your braai, not something you braai with.

3.             Braaing is the only fat-negative way of cooking food. Even when you steam it, the fat in the food stays behind. When you braai, the fat drips out.

4.             Never braai with indigenous wood. Alien vegetation like Rooikrantz and Blackwattle drink lots of ground water and besides, it’s good burning Australian rubbish.

5.             Braaing is a direct form of energy use, from the coals, to your meat. With conventional electricity there is a lot spillage between the power plant, power lines, electricity box, wires, stove and pan. If you love the earth, braai.

6.             Have enough ice at your braai. To put in Klipdrift & Coke, to keep Castles cold, and to treat burn wounds with.

7.             Smoke flies to pretty people, so send them to the kitchen to go and make salad.

8.             Animals eat grass, leaves and vegetables all their lives and convert it to meat. Eating meat is like eating vitamin pills.

9.             A cow must only be killed once. Do not braai you steak until the flavour is dead.

10.    A braaibroodjie is your chance in life to have you bread buttered on both sides.