The Martlet

September 24 is National Braai Day.

A proper braai party needs five main ingredients: beer, friends, a good open-pit grill (preferably wood, but charcoal is fine too — not gas), braaivleis and pap. Good weather is nice too, but tragically beyond the host’s control. To be truly authentic, the beer should be a refreshing lager, preferably Castle, Blacklabel or Lion, but anything will do in a pinch.

The Afrikaan word “braai” (rhyming with “pie”) is synonymous with barbecue, and is used as a noun for the grill, or a verb for the partying itself.

National Braai Day coincides closely with the Autumnal Equinox and South African Heritage Day.  What better time to have one last summer bash, no matter your country or heritage?

The first three ingredients are self-explanatory. Braaivleis, on the other hand, require a bit of explanation. These “grilled meats” are the centrepieces of the braai. While familiar staples like kebabs, ribs and even fish and shellfish can fit the bill as braaivleis, traditionally South African boerewors are what make a braai more than just another barbecue.

Boerewors, meaning “farmer’s sausage,” are generally made of beef (sometimes with other meats added) and a mixture of spices. The exact meats and spices used (and their proportions) vary from chef to chef, so you may wind up with radically different boerewors at any one potluck-style braai, if you’re so lucky. You can easily find all kinds of boerewors recipes on the Internet, both traditional and novel.

Traditional pap is a porridge of cornmeal, but you can experiment with the dish’s consistency and add other ingredients to create an array of variations. Phutu pap, a crumbly rendering of the porridge, is great served as a side-dish with chakalaka, a spicy, salsa-like relish. Pap can also be fried or served soft with milk and sugar for breakfast (if you have any left over). Mango chutney, beef stock gravy and cabbage relish are other traditional condiments to have on hand at a braai to go with the pap, the boerewors or even vetkoek.

Vetkoek, is good with mustard and filled with mince. But for a dessert, the sweet, deep-fried dough can be slathered in sugar and jam, or honey, or whatever else sweet or savoury strikes your fancy. Nutella vetkoek, anyone?

Although a braai is closely associated with boerewors and beer, like any other meal-centered gathering, kids and vegetarians can easily be accommodated with a little creativity. Ceres fruit juices, made in South Africa, are a good option that sticks close to the line of authenticity. The more adventuresome can make umquombhoti, a corn-based beer low in alcohol content.

If all the meat and beer hasn’t sent your party napping, wrap things up in modern South African style with a game of rugby, soccer or cricket. Bonus points if you include snacking on biltong, a jerky-like staple that differs from North American jerky in that it’s made with thicker strips of meat and preserved with vinegar before drying. It’s available either moist, dry or somewhere in-between.

It’s up to you to take the braai as far as you want, whether that means some sausages on the grill, some pap on the side and some Race Rocks to wash it all down in time-crunched and budget-attentive UVic student variation, or the full-on smorgasbord of braaivleis and side-dishes.

Enlist friends for a potluck-style bring-and-braai, and reap the benefits of many helping hands.

However you choose to braai, as you toast your final farewell to summer, don’t forget to thank the Mzansi Braai Institute of South Africa for creating National Braai Day in 2005.

And ladies, feel free to sit back and relax and let the men do the grilling. It’s tradition.