It’s now May so some of us Brits are already dusting off our Barbecues. We need to be prepared when dining Al fresco with our family and friends.
British BBQs are fantastic. The host takes care of everything. The guests just have to turn up. They may be required to bring a bottle to top up the alcohol that will already be taking over the kitchen side. There is usually an experienced Dad, Husband, Brother or guy friend at the helm cooking up a storm. It’s an open house. Family and friends chilling out, eating and drinking. Music in the background, kids running around in the garden. Good times.
A Braai (pronounced Bry) is how South African folk barbecue. This isn’t just dining outside in the summer, this is a beloved tradition. South Africans will Braai on Christmas Day! Any day is a Braai day, no matter the weather and no matter the occasion. Not totally convinced that they wouldn’t get up in the morning and Braai a cornflake!
In the summer of 2007 I had a job interview with a French man. During that interview I found out he was actually a South African. His French name was tricky to pronounce and on leaving the building I was not sure if I had made the cut. Outside, there was a much younger man working on a motor bike. He had an amazing smile and wished me a good day.
8 years later I married that young man. The French named South African is now my father in law. I did get the job! As our two cultures have intertwined I have learnt many new things. The Braai was one of the first issues that took me ages to get my head around.
You get an invite to a Braai. Fantastic!…what’s for lunch? No surprises there as you have to bring your own food!!!! Seriously! I was mortified. So let me get this straight, you invite people round for dinner and get them to bring it! We are still required to bring a bottle too, so the host is doing what exactly?
Welcome to the Braai. Guests bring their own food and drink. Namely your own meat and alcohol and when I say meat I mean steak. You don’t get any old burgers and sausages at a Braai. You get good quality steak, marinated and cooked to your specification by the host. The man of the house is the chef in charge and all the other men congregate around the grill drinking and socialising. They are also on hand to assist with cooking if required. The ladies are inside preparing salads and side dishes. They are also drinking and socialising. It’s an awesome and usually alcohol fuelled party.
Sometimes you can be drinking alcohol for 2-3 hours, before a single molecule of protein has made its way to your plate. Once I actually passed out before getting to the food portion of the evening.
As a fairly posh Brit, I do prefer to know what time lunch is and for the meal to arrive on a plate. This “turn up whenever” and “we will eat at some point” lark is strange to me. Even now years down the line, I still get a little edgy turning up to a Braai, with raw meat in my handbag and no clue what time I am going to eat it That’s when the alcohol comes to the rescue. I swap my raw steak for a large glass of rose on arrival and leave my English hang ups at the door.