Braai Times!

Last Tuesday, Lida (My manager) announced that there was to be BBQ at work on Wednesday night at 6:00pm. Or, more appropriately, a Braai, which is what South Africans call a BBQ.

I had initially figured it was simply a linguistic difference, a matter of a different word for the similar thing- Cooking outdoors, burgers, etc.

No. A Braai is a completely different atmospheric and experiential event that I hope I can recreate at some point. I think Canadians would love Braais. We like fire, we like outdoors, and we like cooking things more interesting than just hot dogs and pre-packaged patties sometimes.

The first major difference I noticed was that there isn't a such thing as an actual barbeque. No coals, no propane, no tidy grill area.

There was, however, a massive half cut steel drum that was packed with wood and kindling and set to bonfire for an hour and a half while everyone drank the new Sphynx Chardonnay, old vintages of red blends, and boxes of beer.

Once the fire had burned down to coals, JD Pretorius (not only Steenbergs head Wine Maker, but officially dubbed 'Braaimaster' as well) strapped on a headlamp, grabbed three enormous grates that to fill with homemade burgers, and went to work, piling them over the low flames, concentrating coals in different areas, etc.


The burgers were unreal. Moist to the point of dripping, and having a woody, smoky amazingness that came from from wood coals. We ended up in the tasting room, eating around the wine bar while making guesses about a mystery wine that turned out to be called "Shannon". JD gave me the cork as a souvenir!

Now, for Braai experience number two:


http://www.lonelyplanet.com/south-africa/cape-town/restaurants/bbq-meat/mzoli-s


A few days after this, my roommates and I decided to go to Mzoli's, which is a Braai restaurant in the Townships (The dirt poor settlements that ring around Capetown).

Once we got there, we were in line outside the door of what looked to be a little hole in the wall on a hot, crowded street full off people walking, vendors with sunglasses and hats, and coolers of beer. Once our turn came inside, we were at a counter of what was essentially a butchers shop, with raw meat of various varieties piled high behind glass, and three men running around behind scales, trying to move through customers as efficiently as possible.

What happens is this: you order however much of what you want, and it will be brought to you, after however long (depends on how busy it is) spiced, flamed, and sauced. There was five of us (going to be seven) and we put in 50 rand each(About $6.25). We ordered 100 rand worth of chicken, 100 rand worth of pork, 50 rand worth of sausage, and 50 rand worth of beef.

That completed, we headed out into the street again. It was already hot, and it was a perfectly clear day. We were heading across the street to buy drinks, which were purchased from peoples homes along the streets. We were beckoned onto a patio by a handful of vendors (more hats and sunglasses) and the woman inside the house was running a lucrative shop selling 6-packs out her front door, probably at tidy profit.

We bought 3 6-packs, two of Hunters and one of Savannah (both dry ciders) and headed into the Mzoli's "restaurant". I say restaurant dubiously, because it wasn't a restaurant. It was a sprawling, packed warehouse under sheet metal and wooden rafters, with plastic tables and chairs, barrels and bar stools, and a DJ already hard at work by noon. People were eating, drinking, dancing, and smoking left, right, and center.

We snagged a barrel and 3 stools on the far side, near the open edge half in the sun. What followed was two hours of complete and utter awesome. Music, meat, cider, and sun. I also had my picture taken by a couple of people, and a man came and drummed near our table for a while, so we danced, and gave him a handful of change.

When our (totally unreasonable volume of) food came, it was in a metal basin nearly the size of our table. Everything; sausages, pork, chicken; all thrown together and sitting in its own juice and sauce. No plates, no napkins (we brought out own). Just an enormous bucket of barbequed meat. You ate with your hands and enjoyed every minute of it, washing it all down with beer and enthusiasm.

After we ate what we could (perhaps half... Maybe less) we bought three take out containers for  2 rand each, and brought a hefty pile home each. We also filled our lemon container (Carolyn had thoughtfully brought lemon slices for the cider in a small tupperware container) with bits of fat and scraps of tougher meat, and fed the street puppies while we waited to flag a cab.

We snagged a cab, and went back to Howe street for 5 minutes to change, and I grabbed my (your) speakers and book, before heading to Camps Bay to watch the sunset. We did a Pick n Pay run for chocolate and chips (worst supper ever... my stomach is still annoyed at me) and sat on the beach, listening to music, reading, chatting, snacking, and just enjoying the day.

As I've been ending posts with more and more often;

Day Seized!