The barbecue—braai, as its known in Southern Africa or asado in Argentina— is essentially cooking outdoors over hot coals. But, it's actually so much more than that. Understandably, it's something that has a far more engrained cultural and gastronomic importance in countries that saw immigrant arrivals being forced to cook outdoors as they moved into vast new landscapes with none of the infrastructure of their native European homes.
Furthermore, such arriviste settlers assimilated what they learned from both indigenous peoples and from other groups of settlers from different cultures. One version claims the word "barbecue" comes from a word from the Caribbean Taino tribe describing the wooden grate that they used to grill meat and fish. Another theory claims that it comes from the word "buccaneers" used for a style of cooking on a beach these maritime outlaws deployed when celebrating capturing a new horde of pirate treasure.
The peri-peri marinades of the South African braai took a circuitous route before becoming a staple: hot chillies were brought back to Spain and Portugal by early transatlantic traders where the wives of Portuguese sailors in particular combined New World and Mediterranean spices that they took with them to the early Portuguese trading outposts of Angola and Mozambique. Inevitably their delicious flavours were something others took with them into the interior and South Africa... And that's just one story.
Like other cuisines, barbecue has had a "refractory" history, adopted back by the cultures from which the original settler populations who developed it arose. Yes, I'm fairly understanding when I watch people in northern Europe cook a few lacklustre burgers and sausages outdoors during their unpredictable summers... until they start talking about barbecuing as being a "simple" and "basic" form of cuisine. No, idiots, it's only that way when you cook it.
Barbecue culture is so rich that it has just as many recipes in and of itself as many other cuisines. And, yes, they really do vary. Just look at all those variants from different part of the USA or Australia. So, please don't understand what's laid out here as the braai, but a braai. And, if I'm honest, in this case, it's a fairly simple and modest one for only a few people.
Feel free to explore and play. The great thing about a good barbecue is that you can opt for many different forms of meat or, indeed no meat at all. Yes, it does vary from culture to culture, but there are basically three things on the food side that make for a great barbecue:
The stuff that gets cooked on a grill over the coals—meat, poultry, seafood or veggie
Vegetable accompaniments—most often salads served cold, but they can also be things such as corn on the cob or potatoes wrapped in foil and cooked in the coals
Other accompaniments—most often carbs such as garlic bread cooked in foil in the coals, flatbreads or arepas (a personal favourite), cooked directly on the grill or burger buns (if you must). But it could also be things such as putu pap, a kind of African dry "porridge" made from cornmeal not too dissimilar to polenta
Below is the outline of one particular barbecue menu. But feel free to mix it up and, most importantly, read the section called Tips for a Successful Barbecue at the end of the recipes. It's more important than you may realise.
Shopping list
Barbecue, braai or asado
The great thing about a barbecue is that you can ultimately choose anything you want to cook over the coals. In this particular situation, I chose really thin steaks, skewers of chicken and seafood and lamb skewers, but it's an open field
The marinades
The "heavy" marinade suitable for beef, lamb and red meat
1 large brown or white onion, chopped
2 hot red chilies, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
HP sauce or A1 steak sauce if in the USA (about ¼ of a cup or more if needed). Do NOT use anything called "barbecue sauce"
3 tbspns of bitter orange marmalade
About 3cm of fresh ginger ("a thumb"), peeled and finely grated
1 tspn freshly grated nutmeg
1 tspn coarse salt, freshly ground
½ cup soy sauce
4 to 5 tbspns malt vinegar
1 level tspn each of cumin, dried coriander, fenugreek seeds, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, fennel seeds and mustard seeds
The peri-peri marinade suitable for chicken, seafood or fish
1 large brown or white onion, chopped
2 hot red chilies, roughly chopped
1 heaped tspn dried chillies
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
A dash of olive oil
2 tspns pimentón
2 tspns oregano
½ tspn sea salt
1 tspn freshly ground black pepper
The juice and rind of 1 lemon
1 tbspn honey
Wine vinegar, as needed for consistency
A small glass of red port (optional)
The potato salad
Potato salad is literally what Germans brought to the table, at least in braai, asado and certain American traditions of barbecue. For me, it is a lynchpin: without it, you're only cooking meat outdoors. And, I am very picky about it. The quantities below assuming 4 to 5 diners. Scale up or down as necessary. Better still don't worry too much: it makes the perfect leftovers lunch if stored sealed in the fridge for a couple of days.
On the peeling question, I almost always peel the potatoes unless so young the skins are almost translucent. Make your own decision.
6 large potatoes (or the equivalent in smaller potatoes)
A large clutch of spring onions, finely sliced
2 eggs, hard boiled
12 cornichons (or the equivalent in larger gherkins) finely sliced
At least 2 tbspns of rough grain mustard (such as Dijon)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ground rock salt, to taste
Real mayonnaise, to taste
The green salad
This one is the most like free-form jazz: go with the flow. But here's the one I use a lot in portions for 4 to 5 diners. Do the maths to change that.
approx. 170g of mixed green leaves of choice. If you want to do an authentic South African braai green salad, go heavy on the iceberg lettuce, one of the few varieties that likes the tip of the continent's climate...
2 white or brown onions, finely sliced into "rings"
Sliced or diced fresh tomatoes
½ a cucumber, thinly sliced
1 avocado, diced (optional)
Minimal seasoning, such as black pepper and rock salt, to taste
Dressing of choice; extra virgin olive oil and balsamico, French vinaigrette or whatever you prefer
The "other" salad
Every barbecue—certainly every braai—demands at least one salad that will have people chatting about it. It doesn't have to be grand. It simply has to be a little "different"(or at least what people are happy to pretend passes for different). Here's the version, but we should also talk about my friend Jemima Brown's salad we all adored at the barbecue at her house in Broadstairs recently.
Again, these quantities are for 4 to 5 diners and likely to warrant good leftovers But scale up or down as needed
4 large carrots (or the equivalent), roughly grated
1 tin of chick peas (400g), drained
1 tin (150g) of stuffed, pitted green olives
2 handfuls of fresh mint, finely chopped
A handful of dates, finely chopped
2 handfuls of almonds, crushed
the zest and juice of one lime
A little extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to flavour
The other stuff
It could be flatbreads grilled on the coals, it could be putu pap. In this case it's good old-fashioned garlic bread
Again, these quantities are for 4 to 5 diners
2 baguettes
4 heaped tbspns butter
5 cloves of garlic, finely grated
Cooking Method
Okay, so one of the great things about a barbecue—maybe even more so with a braai than other iterations—is that the cooking really can be a shared process, from the OCD people playing with fire to bored kids you can rope in to create really simple dishes.
One of the things I remember about the format from childhood memories was the way that women actually had the time to sit down and speak with each other for a change, primarliy because they had done all of their work before the event. During the braai itself, men generally skulked off to play with fire, allowing women a space to themselves until the food was ready.
So, please understand that when I say "cooking method", normal rules don't apply. There are no auteurs at a braai, no one stuck alone in the kitchen cooking for the gathered company.
the marinades
With each, the method is the same. Obviously created them in separate clean dishes or jugs. And, yes, clean the blender blades if making more than one marinade
Into a deep bowl or jug, chuck in all of the more solid ingredients and blend using a hand-held blender, adding relevant liquid ingredients to facilitate the process
Ensure that your marinade has the final consistency for marinating your ingredients to be grilled by adding additional liquid whether oil, soy or port
Once fully blended, place your desired meat, one steak at a time, for example, into an appropriately deep, sealable dish. Pour over a dash of marinade and massage in with clean fingers, turning and then building up the contents, layer upon layer. In the case of skewers, use a pastry brush to ensure that all sides are thoroughly basted
Pour over the remaining marinade (even if it entirely submerges the ingredients being marinated), seal and place in the fridge. You should do this at least four hours before placing on the grill, but ideally 24 hours before
Once the fire is right, remove from the fridge about 20 mins before the responsible barbecuista take control. It will all work out well. Make sure s/he is given the excess marinade and a basting brush because it can be very effective to baste on more during the cooking process
cooking on the grill
Assuming someone is capable of making a fire and understanding that you shouldn't cook until the coals are ready (they should look white from the outside but glow orange if you blow on them) it's a piece of piss.
Simply place the item you want to grill on the grille and turn occasionally, until cooked. Do not be afraid of carbonised black edges: it's part of the flavour thrill. I think if I, the kid who spent most of his time reading books on Greek Classics or the designs of Yves Saint-Laurent while butch men controlled the fire, turns out to be pretty good at this stuff, you really should have not fears. And, as I've learned now that I'm older, it's a pretty bloody fantastic mode of cooking.
the potato salad
Okay, so about this one, I'm a little fussy. I abhor bad potato salad and there's far too much of it about. So, yes, oversee this one with an eagle eye.
Boil peeled or unpeeled potatoes in boiling water. If large, cut in half (or even into quarters) and cook until ready. NEVER pre-cube the potatoes. The potatoes should be properly cooked but never cooked until powdery. Always avoid the vile sin of the undercooked potatoes you find in potato salads in supermarkets, even the ones with pretensions to be "posh". Drain in a colander. Rinse with cold water and allow to fully cool
When the potatoes are properly cooled, cubed on a chopping board and place into an appropriate large dish, gently separating the cubes while never "mashing" them
Add the finely sliced spring onions and cornichons/gherkins, carefully stirring in with a spatula in order to not create mashed potatoes
Add the seasoning, mustard and mayonnaise, stirring in until the final consistency is achieved. This should be neither "wet" nor "dry" but certainly moist
Slice, chop or "mash" the peeled hard-boiled eggs and sprinkle over the top of the salad before taking to table
the other salads
Okay, so I'm not going into the minutiae on these because there really is no "cooking" involved in creating these. Get a grown-up to be in charge of chopping and dressing and rope the bored kids in to do the rest.
A variation on this carrot on this salad in the one that involved carrots, mint and couscous my friend Jemima made for our recent barbecue in her garden at Broadstairs. I'll ask about the labour management given her teenage son Laurie seemed pretty on the case...
the other bits
To make old-school garlic bread, simply mix the grated garlic in with the butter. Thickly slice the baguettes and then, using a wide knife, spread a healthy dollop of the butter and garlic mixture between each slice. Wrap in foil and place in the hot coals (or in the oven if your barbecue is on the smaller side)
Alternatives
Knock yourselves out. I'm sorry that I only have photos of the prawn version of the peri-peri skewers I did in Broadstairs (one of the risks of being an OCD barbecuista cooking with firre) for the pescatarians. Because the monkfish cheeks and courgette (from Jemima and Joe's garden) version were way beyond that
Bluntly, veggies are not a great barbecue options. But, two things I do rate are vertically sliced aubergine (about 1cm thick) marinated in the marinade used for "meat" here and a medley of potatoes, sweet potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, marinated in the above peri-peri marinade, then wrapped in foil and cooked in the coals
Pairings
No, not really possible. So many protein options You'll have to work it out for yourselves. At the most recent braai in Yorkshire I paired a pinot noir, nothing special, with lamb skewers and marinated steak. It worked well.
3 Tips for a Successful Barbecue
You’ve decided to have a summer barbecue. Excellent. But here are a few tips, especially for our friends in the UK and Northern Europe to help you get it right, both in terms of flavour and, more importantly, socially.
Think tapas—We’ve all learned the concept of tapas globally in the last few decades. Think of your barbecue being exactly that, a meal without distinct courses, only with chunkier plates. Make sure your accompaniments are on the table and after that, let the barbecuistas bring the grilled loveliness as it arrives and sit back and allow it to happen. Your guests can pick at what they want as it arrives. Do NOT pressure the barbecuistas to have it all ready at once. Yes, we know there are companies that invented oversized comedy barbecues so that is possible. But that is on them. And on you if you buy into it.
Give your barbecuistas space—barbecues are arguably the perfect model for social integration for types who feel uncomfortable in other social gatherings; non-verbal geeks, practical people who don’t like to talk much in social groups and generic pyromaniacs. They will want to run the barbecue itself. Let them do it. Solo or in a little muttering cluster, leave them to get on with it and don’t hassle them to come over and chat with other guests. Everyone wins.
The close-down—You may need to enact a little persuasion (or just take control). Barbecues traditionally don’t do pudding. But if you sneakily pre-prepare something like peaches or pears and raspberries wrapped into tin foil and get your barbecuistas to slip them into the coals once the fire dies down, served with a snifter of good brandy and a little pouring cream or vanilla ice-cream, they are the perfect close to a meal under the stars.
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