Braai - The South African Barbecue Book

Each year on 24 September millions of South Africans unite around fires to share and celebrate the rich and diverse heritage of their rainbow nation. JanBraai is the driving force behind the National Braai Day initiative which promotes Heritage Day, as the national public holiday is officially known, as a day to light a fire, have a braai and celebrate South Africa.

As patron of National Braai Day, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu says, South Africa has eleven official languages, but just one word for this wonderful institution braai; its braai in Xhosa, its braai in Afrikaans, its braai in English ... It has fantastic potential to bind South Africans together.

National Braai Day has become for South Africans the equivalent of Thanksgiving for Americans, St Patricks Day for the Irish, Australia Day for Australians or Bastille Day for the French. Wherever in the world you are and whatever your nationality, Jan urges you to light a fire on 24 September each year, gather some friends around it and join South Africas national celebration!

Find out more at www.braai.com

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 food, the fat in it stays behind. When you braai, the fat drips out. Be healthy and braai your food.

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

5. Have enough ice at your braai. Use it to cool your gin and tonic, to keep your beer cold, and to treat wounds with.

6. Smoke flies to pretty people, so have enough of them at your braai and there will be no smoke in your eyes.

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

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

9. A braaibroodjie is your chance in life to have your bread buttered on both sides use it.

ROBINSON

First published in paperback in South Africa in 2014 by Bookstorm

This edition published in Great Britain in 2016 by Robinson

Text copyright Jan Braai, 2015, 2016

Photographs copyright Jan Braai, 2015, 2016

Photographs by Matthys van Lill

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-47213-760-9

Robinson

An imprint of

Little, Brown Book Group

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

An Hachette UK Company

www.hachette.co.uk

www.littlebrown.co.uk

Maintenance
(For oxtail, lamb and chicken potjies see the relevant meat sections)

To braai the perfect steak at your own home is one of those things you should be able to do with ease. As long as you stick to a few basic guidelines and pay attention to what you are doing, you will master this skill in no time. Once you can comfortably braai an awesome steak at home, this knowledge, skill and experience will be your foundation for doing it anywhere else, in whatever strange braaing conditions life might throw at you.

To braai the perfect steak, the actual steak that you are braaing has to be of a certain quality. However well you braai it, a bad piece of meat is never going to turn out great. Later on in this book we go into more detail about that but, first things first: the following foundational principles will equip you with a culture of excellent steak braaing that you can use for the rest of your life.

If it is in the fridge, take the steak out 20 minutes before you want to braai it, and leave it in the shade or indoors. (When you make the effort to buy great steaks, you are probably not going to freeze them, but if the steaks you want to braai are frozen, transfer them from the freezer to the fridge at least a day in advance to allow them to thaw slowly.)

Its already 100% protein, so cover it with a cloth to keep the flies and bugs away. If there are dogs or hyenas around, place the steak well outside their reach.

If you are making a real fire with real wood, and this is the best way to braai, make a big fire from the outset. Do not make a medium-sized fire and add more wood later. By the time the second batch of wood has burnt out, the coals from the first batch will be half dead. Once the meat goes onto the fire, the process will be over quickly, so if you want to stand around the fire and discuss life with your guests for a few hours before you eat, make a medium-sized fire by all means. But when you intend to braai, add lots of wood, wait until its burnt out, then braai.

If the petrol station only had wet wood available and you have to use charcoal, light quite a lot of it. For a small braai, consider half a bag. Its not uncommon for me to use a whole bag of charcoal when braaing steaks for a dinner party.

If you are wondering whether you have enough heat, then the answer is probably no. For these easy steps to a perfect steak to work, you need peace of mind that your coals are extremely hot. This is essential.

When you braai steaks at your own home, always braai them on the same height and know exactly what that height is.

When you are braaing at a new location, compare the height of the grid to the height of the grid at home, and adjust the braaing time accordingly.

If you really prefer your steaks rare and arent just saying it to try and sound one up on everybody else ordering medium rare, then you shouldnt be ordering rare steaks anyway. There are two great dishes for you to try Steak Tartare and Beef Carpaccio.

If you prefer your steaks medium, then start buying superior quality steaks, learn how to braai them better, and acquire the taste of enjoying them medium rare.

If you like your steaks medium well or well done, then why exactly are you reading this section of the book? Youre probably quite capable of messing the meat up all by yourself.

If one of your guests asks for medium, and you have prepared enough extremely hot coals to start with, then there will be quite enough heat to get their steak medium by the time everybody else has sat down and been served. This should not happen too often, as most classy people nowadays are aware that steak should be enjoyed medium rare.