National Braai Day

Friday was a public holiday here in South Africa; Heritage Day, or rather as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu - fondly known as "The Arch" suggested, it should be "National Braai Day" because braaiing is a major part of the South African heritage and he loves a braai. This has been adopted enthusiastically and when you drive anywhere on National Braai Day you will see the smoke from hundreds of braai fires, whether in backyards or on the beaches guys will be standing around the fire with favourite beverage in hand eagerly braaiing chops, boerewors, ribs and chicken. All will be engaged in earnest conversation solving all of the world's major problems.

There's nothing to beat a cold beverage and a hot fire to get a bunch of guys into a happy mood. For this braai I decided to do my marinated rump steak for starters, the marinade is just olive oil, aromat, garlic flakes, black pepper and mustard. I let it sit for about an hour and then slap it on the grid with some good flame.
When it is still quite rare I take it off and let it rest for a minute or two and then slice it up, sprinkle with salt to taste and pass it around, this one always goes down well. If anyone likes their steak ruined their slices can always be put back on the grid to cook for a bit longer.
The next course was pork loin chops with butternut, pretty straight forward I just put the butternut with butter and black pepper into tinfoil and put on top of the coals while we were eating the steak. I kept turning it to evenly distribute the heat and when it was feeling soft I put it on the grid while I braaiied the chops.
I salt the rinds and balance the chops up against a block of wood to get them crispy, then just finish them off making sure that they are well done before serving. Janet made a delicious creamy potato dish to complement the meat and butternut.
We had a nice relaxed lunch, we don't usually need an official day to have a braai but I am sure that nine out of ten South African families were braaiing on Friday. We will be braaiing again over the weekend because my sister and brother-in-law are coming to stay and they love a braai, any excuse to burn some meat suits me too.

I'm on leave for a week so I'm also hoping to get out on the bike a bit, watch this space!