Grilling in southern Africa is serious business as evidenced by many humorous road signs advertising the life altering greatness of meat. "Ostrich: lean, tasty, red meat." "When it comes to health, bring on the biltong." Or simply, "hot and meat." In fact, grilling has its own culture here. First off, instead of a grill, it's called a braai both in noun and verb. Second, a true proper braai starts early and burns hot all day, keeping the company amongst friends and family. People party at home, at lodges, even on the side of a country road. The party only ends when the last coals have cooled.
Cooking on the grill/braai is a huge past time for Mark, and one he had to put on hold while living in Brazil since our apartment building wanted no part in building fires. So when he arrived to Windhoek, six weeks after I got here, he joyfully kicked me to the curb and took over the cooking. It didn't help that my first attempts at grilling ended in embarrassment. I mean, in the past I have successfully grilled, but here, the logistics of big metal boxes and drawers confounded me. One time I tried placing charcoal briquettes in the top box, but they all fell through the bottom. I walked away covered in soot, and no dinner to show for it. Another time I made a cute pyramid of coals and lit them on fire in the bottom drawer. They burned, but didn't emit enough heat. My filets rubberized by the time I figured out the drawer was actually to collect ash refuse.
Google didn't help either- no blogs or Youtube or Wikihow had a decent "how to guide" for setting up the braai. I enlisted the help of my dad via email. Reading between the lines, I could feel him laughing at me as he suggested I just "ring the neighbor's doorbell and ask." Well that's all good and fine when you don't have 2 hungry kids on a school night. Or that everyone has 8 foot tall, electrified and barb wired walls with roving security. It didn't exactly make me feel ready to show up unannounced (though since my arrival, I have met some very cool neighbors.) Finally, after a few more trial and errors, I figured out how to braai. I can make mean fire. With wood- which is how a true southern African does it.
Turns out, several of my newly arrived American friends were in the same position: in possession of a really cool braai, but no idea on how to use it. I happily passed on my knowledge, and ultimately decided to document this process for anyone who felt as clueless as I did.
Cooking on the grill/braai is a huge past time for Mark, and one he had to put on hold while living in Brazil since our apartment building wanted no part in building fires. So when he arrived to Windhoek, six weeks after I got here, he joyfully kicked me to the curb and took over the cooking. It didn't help that my first attempts at grilling ended in embarrassment. I mean, in the past I have successfully grilled, but here, the logistics of big metal boxes and drawers confounded me. One time I tried placing charcoal briquettes in the top box, but they all fell through the bottom. I walked away covered in soot, and no dinner to show for it. Another time I made a cute pyramid of coals and lit them on fire in the bottom drawer. They burned, but didn't emit enough heat. My filets rubberized by the time I figured out the drawer was actually to collect ash refuse.
Google didn't help either- no blogs or Youtube or Wikihow had a decent "how to guide" for setting up the braai. I enlisted the help of my dad via email. Reading between the lines, I could feel him laughing at me as he suggested I just "ring the neighbor's doorbell and ask." Well that's all good and fine when you don't have 2 hungry kids on a school night. Or that everyone has 8 foot tall, electrified and barb wired walls with roving security. It didn't exactly make me feel ready to show up unannounced (though since my arrival, I have met some very cool neighbors.) Finally, after a few more trial and errors, I figured out how to braai. I can make mean fire. With wood- which is how a true southern African does it.
Turns out, several of my newly arrived American friends were in the same position: in possession of a really cool braai, but no idea on how to use it. I happily passed on my knowledge, and ultimately decided to document this process for anyone who felt as clueless as I did.
To create a wood powered braai, you need:
- Grate. Either a large one that covers the entirety of the braai, or a handled mini grill that you can sandwich meat in between.
- Wood. The grocery stores sell perfectly portioned 10kg bags of split wood. Pick up two or more bags to keep yourself fit, and save face from ever running out of wood. Your guests will relentlessly tease if you do.
- Newspaper or kindling. Fire starters are a popular option too. They come in various shapes, reek of gas and leave oily residue everywhere, especially if you are clumsy like me.
- A metal poker. For poking. Ok, and for stoking the lit firewood and encouraging kids to make the sparks fly.
- A metal rake. For raking. You have to be able to scoot the coals over and spread them across the grilling area.
- Fire resistant gloves. Not required, but dead handy.
- Time. Maybe 90 minutes to get a decent fire ready to grill. Oh yeah, and meat.
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| Schlink braai, behind our house. |
Em, is the Braai inside or outside of the house? It's hard to tell from the photo. Interesting! Love your adventures!
ReplyDeleteThe braais are all outside, usually under a thatched roof. It's heavenly. I added another picture at the bottom of the post.
DeleteOh, yes, I see now. Looks like fun!
ReplyDelete