It’s Heritage month and that means it’s also National Braai Day! Aimed at uniting South Africans around fires to celebrate our beautiful country, 24 September has become synonymous with great food, friends and memories. With a lifetime of fond around-the-fire gatherings, founder of The Braai Bru, Paul Elliott, shares why a braai is in our blood and what he enjoys most with his meat.
A CHILDHOOD AROUND THE BRAAI
“I’ve always loved to braai. My childhood is filled with memories of my mom lighting up a fire and our family socializing around it. As I got older, braais with friends became a regular affair on weekends. Often 20 to 30 of us from all over would gather with some meat and cooler box in hand. We would play one-bounce in the street or cricket in the yard and, once the sun had set, settle around the fire and talk about who had the best wave on the beach. My mom insisted that everyone spend the night, so there were always bodies sprawled all over the place. This became a tradition and we loved it. Like most South Africans, it was simply in our blood.”
SETTING A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
In September 2018, Paul took part in the Guinness World Record for the most people braaing simultaneously. They beat the American’s previous record by seven people, with a total of 571 people – and currently still hold the record!
THE BIRTH OF THE BRAAI BRU
“Braaing became an addiction for me and eventually I was braaing at home on average about five times a week. I decided to share my passion through a Facebook page called ‘The Braai Bru’. Currently there are more than 1700 members and the group is growing daily. We all share photos of what we are cooking, debate over side dishes and share techniques and preferred braai materials. We also do the odd raffle to raise funds for special causes. The response is always phenomenal because, in true South African style, we are like one big family.”
CHOPS @ TOPS
Recently, Paul was approached by Brett Venton, the owner of The Village Vineyard Tops at SPAR in Kloof, who, because of the current ban on alcohol sales, was keen to try a new pop-up concept store called Chops @ Tops. Offering a wide variety of meats, snacks, sauces and more, along with a massive range of braai products, they are currently working with Paul, to include The Braai Bru branded merchandise on their shelves too! “The Braai Bru and Chops @ Tops have also teamed up with Deon Els, a contract painter by profession, who due to Covid-19 pandemic, has successfully kicked off his own family-run, Karoo meat business called The Meat Master.”
All three men have used the pandemic to their advantage to stay afloat (while pursuing their passions) and put food on the table, but have not failed to enjoy the simple tradition of a good get-together and a braai – under social distancing regulations of course. Here’s what Paul brought to the table at their latest gathering. They are two of his favourites … and just became ours! Enjoy!
The Braai Bru Beer Bread
Best done in a flat base cast iron pot on coals, but can also be done in flat base oven proof dish in an oven.
Ingredients
1 big block of cheese (weight and quantity not important, the more, the better)
2 rounds of feta cheese
1kg self-raising flour
750ml black label (let’s hope you have some stashed away or that the alcohol ban is lifted by now)
Method
Cut cheese into blocks of about 2cm x 2cm. Put flour into mixing bowl, add cheese blocks and mix to cover cheese. Add salt to flavour. Slowly add beer and mix until it’s sticky. Grease your pot with butter or Spray and Cook, put mixture into the pot and place on a braai grid over briquettes. Give it about 30 mins then add coals on the pot lid to cook from above while the bottom continues to cook. Bread normally takes about an hour, depending on the heat of the fire. Keep checking, because the bottom burns quickly. You will smell the bread cooking. Once the top of the bread is a brownish colour, it should be done. Loosen around the bread with a bread knife and lift out the pot when ready. Slice, load with butter and indulge!
Extras: Your bread is not only limited to cheese. Have fun and experiment by adding different ingredients like biltong, corn, peppadews or spring onion.
The Braai Bru Bacon Onion Rings
Ingredients
Large farm fresh onions
Rindless streaky bacon
Your favourite spices
Chilli mayonnaise
Method
Large onions are best for this snack. The bigger the onion ring, the easier it is to wrap in bacon.
Cut rings to your desired thickness, push out inner smaller rings, and wrap the large rings with bacon as you would when making a pom pom. Secure the end of the bacon to the onion ring by poking half a toothpick through the bacon strip and onion ring. Spice to your desired flavour. Place over a hot fire to grill the bacon. Once the bacon is browned, remove from the grid, dip into a lekker sauce (I enjoy chilli mayonnaise) and enjoy.
Extras: Another option would be to dip your onion and bacon rings into a crumbed type batter before placing on the fire.
Details:
Facebook: The Braai Bru
Instagram: @thebraaibru
