The South African experience; what would it be without a braai?
Eric Galarza of Colorado, USA, recently spent almost three months in our beloved country. And what sort of things did the American notice, you may wonder? The fact that, no matter where you are, the possibility of a braai is always around the corner.
During his time in South Africa, Galarza went from the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga to as far as a Karoo farm just outside Aberdeen in the Eastern Cape, and some more places along the way.
Whether he attempted it himself or someone else took over the braai tongs, there was braai upon braai.
“You guys just have braai facilities everywhere. We went to the Mac Mac Pools and there were braais; we went to Klipkopje Dam for the Fourth of July and there were braais. “I made a friend at the gym who invited me over to his house, and the last-minute thrown-together meal was boerewors rolls; he braaied the wors, of course.”
There was some smoking of food too, though. The Bohemian Groove Café in Kaapsehoop smokes some delicious beef ribs as part of its Sunday lunch – Galarza was delighted, to say the least.
“Now that I am back home, I would really like to try my hand at a braai with some wood. We usually just use charcoal or gas. The only time wood is really involved, is when we smoke food. “In South Africa, I attempted a braai or two, and the more I did it, the more I started to get the hang of it.
All that is left now, as a wise Afrikaans oom next to the braaivleisvuur told me was an absolute necessity, is to find the right wood.”
