Saturday, December 11, 2010

Grill, BBQ, or Braai??

Back in good old North Carolina, on a Friday or Saturday afternoon, and holidays like 4th of July and Memorial Day, we would fire up the gas grill and cook cheeseburgers, ribs, and steaks.  If you live in the North East and I guess out west (correct me if I'm wrong westerners) you would say you were having a barbecue.  Well in Namibia it is neither, we call it a Braai.

Braai is an Afrikaans word that means to grill or roast over open coals.  Open coals brings me to the next point, we do not have gas grills here, we have wood, and we have char coal, but the coal here is not like back home, it is partially burned wood.  We don't have lighter fluid either, we have these white sticks that you light with a match and it burns super hot for about 15 minutes, long enough to get your wood or coal going.  Then about an hour later you begin to cook.  Yes, and hour later. 

There is not a lot of places to go and things to do in most parts of Namibia, and that includes where we live.  We do not have shopping malls anywhere near our town, no movie theatres or parks to take the kids.  So people get together to Braai, build the fire, sit around and talk while we wait for the coals to get good and hot, then share a good meal together.  It is actually really nice.  Our kids love fires, and love Namibian meat, as it is always fresh and straight from the farm to our door.

I have attached a picture of our Braai from tonight.  Great pork skewers with a German glaze base, some onions, and a little sheep fat to give it some flavor while cooking!  And after eating a great meal, we say the food was "Baie Lekker", which means Really great!

Just a little Afrikaans for you tonight.

Lekker Slaap! (Sleep Well)



2 comments:

Unknown said...

That would be the best way to cook, just take your time and the best part is the talking with each individual.

Unknown said...

Braai is the best way. The growing idea now is the cooking on wood charcoal on the big green egg. Nuff said. It is probably the best way to cook, socialize and have a great time.