There is one thing that is irrefutable… And that is that South African’s can braai! This proudly South African cooking form unites us all in the best way.
To braai is to be South African, it is a tradition that spans across every race and class, it is our heritage! It is so much of what a South African is, that National Heritage day is also known as National Braai Day. Archbishop Desmond Tutu shares this belief and acts as the patron of the National Braai Day.
“It’s a fantastic thing, a very simple idea, Irrespective of your politics, of your culture, of your race, of your whatever… just South Africans doing one thing together, and recognizing that we are a fantastic nation.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu said when the initiative began in 2007.
While Heritage Day/Braai Day is still months away braaing is part of our daily lives. So much so that restaurants and renowned chefs use the technique to serve delicious and unique meals. Chef Nqobani Mlagisi grew up on a dairy farm in Zimbabwe where the smoking and braaing of beef occurred on a daily basis. He recalls growing up with the smells of meat cooking on the grill over the fire.
“If you look at the global cuisine when it comes to cooking traditions, you’ll notice that each continent has got a common cooking technique when it comes to meat. The difference is the spices and the herbs that they use.” – Nqobani Mlagisi
Chef Mlagisi believes that the braai is continually reinventing itself as South Africa becomes more urban and more connected to the rest of the world. Chef Mlagisi is a chef in downtown Johannesburg, he finds himself returning to the smells and flavors of childhood as he creates new dishes for a modern, urban clientele.
“Now I find myself going back to my roots in smoking meat, and experimenting with different woods.”
“Mlagisi serves up pulled pork, brisket, and smoked sausages at the City Central Food Hall at 85 Commissioner Street, one of the newest anchors in downtown Johannesburg’s revival.”
Chef Mlagisi isn’t the only braai connoisseur, Jean Nel is the author of the best-selling cookbook “Braai, the Beloved Country” and is just another chef with a passion for braai. Tourists and Capetonians flock to the famed Mzoli’s in Gugulethu for ‘Shisa Nyama’. Downtown Johannesburg is filled with food vendors offering local and lekker style cooking too.
“The surrounding streets host dozens of hole-in-the-wall restaurants offering what’s called buy and braai, or chesa nyama (literally burned meat), essentially a butcher where the grill is always fired up. Diners choose their raw meats, which are cooked while they wait.”
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“Braai is definitely changing as nowadays there are so many different techniques, as opposed to a piece of wors and lamb chop,” says Jean Nel
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