Nothing beats a traditional South African "braai" !Well, not only a South African tradition as it is practiced in many parts of the world but it certainly plays a huge part in African culture all over the continent – a braai vleis (directly translated to “cook meat”) or barbecue.
“Braai Vleis” is an Afrikaans term shortened to “braai” (as in “come around to our house for a braai on Saturday after the rugby”) . In East Africa the expat community refers to it as a “barbecue” … possibly because it sounds posher (yes, we are quite snobby !) and also due to the large Australian expat influence there who affectionately refer to a barbecue as a “Barbie”
The local Tanzanians, on the other hand, refer to it as “Nyama Choma” which directly translated means “Meat Charred” and you can buy a piece of “Nyama Choma” in almost any Tanzanian village, where it is cooked on small open wood fires on the roadside. Goat meat is a popular choice, closely followed by chicken.
Yesterday afternoon we had a “braai” and cooked some Boerewors (spicy sausage), steak and chicken pieces. It really was delicious, there’s just something about the flavour of meat cooked over an open fire that you just can’t beat.
We ate the meat with a lovely fresh salad and some “pap”. Which is another typical African side dish which I will do a post about soon.
“Braai Vleis” is an Afrikaans term shortened to “braai” (as in “come around to our house for a braai on Saturday after the rugby”) . In East Africa the expat community refers to it as a “barbecue” … possibly because it sounds posher (yes, we are quite snobby !) and also due to the large Australian expat influence there who affectionately refer to a barbecue as a “Barbie”
The local Tanzanians, on the other hand, refer to it as “Nyama Choma” which directly translated means “Meat Charred” and you can buy a piece of “Nyama Choma” in almost any Tanzanian village, where it is cooked on small open wood fires on the roadside. Goat meat is a popular choice, closely followed by chicken.
Yesterday afternoon we had a “braai” and cooked some Boerewors (spicy sausage), steak and chicken pieces. It really was delicious, there’s just something about the flavour of meat cooked over an open fire that you just can’t beat.
We ate the meat with a lovely fresh salad and some “pap”. Which is another typical African side dish which I will do a post about soon.
