Always look on the bright side of life………… is how the song goes well a definite bright side of living in SA is National Heritage day that for many has become National Braai day and there can be no better public holiday as far as I am concerned.
Yesterday I was set
ting up a Braai album on Facebook and I was smiling at each photo I posted as each one had a special memory or evoked a song or a smell or a specific joke that had been told on that day. The Braai is a social occasion and basically all you need is a fire, a braai grid, a couple of rocks and some meat and you can have a braai anywhere anytime. When I lived in Clarens many a night you would get a call or you would call people up and the message was always the same…”We’ve decided to have a braai, so bring a dop and a tjop (sometimes a chair) and we will supply the hout and the sout” Viola an instant social gathering and usually a memory in the making.
This got me to thinking who can take credit for the Braai, which country can really stick up its hand and say the Braai is ours. Its probably safe to say that the cavemen where the first to actually throw a piece of Brontosaurus on the Braai. I mean at first they ate raw meat and then some clever caveman either “discovered” fire or a natural phenomenon such as a lightning strike hit a tree and the flames where kept alive. Now can you imagine the first “homus erectus” sitting there watching this hypnotic new discovery chewing on a Taro dactyl rib and deciding to throw one on the Barbie (yes he may have live near modern day Sydney). The Braai was born.
What happened next is open to debate but I believe that UG after finding out he could not actually stick in his hand into the flames to retrieve his ribs called over a few mates and showed them his new discovery. Over the years I am sure that the cooking of raw meat was refined and that a ritual was in place when a group of cavemen got together to have a BBQ (yes cavemen still live on the island). Picture the scene if you will. It’s a Saturday night its been a long hard week of trying not to be eaten by a T Rex and the Mammoth hunt was rather tiring having to chase it across Gondwanaland and finding out that due to the continents starting to separate a long swim was necessary to get back home to the cave.
Trog and his mates where chucking back a few Bud Lites (all the cavemen drank Bud lite, have you not seen the adverts??) and while the women where making a salad and basting the meat in a pond scum marinade the conversation could have gone something like this……………..Trog: so did you guys see the Lions take on the Cheetahs last week? UG: yes was rather brutal but I preferred watching the Pumas take on the Bulls at least we got some meat out of that. So how is married life Sid? SID: its great, my wife is a bit of a Sloth but she is really great where it counts…… Scrat: and where would that be SID: keeping me warm at night, she has got so much hair for the first week I thought she was either Portuguese or Polish but she actually is a Sloth.
UG: These T Rex T bones should be nice and the Primordial wombat wors is the bomb, we also have some vegetables and a nice Savannah Salad if you want. ……….etc etc .
So who do we have to thank for the Braai, well many countries do Braai, calling it by many names and for some it’s a “special” occasion. The Yanks tend to Braai hotdogs and hamburger patties, the Aussies like to “throw a shrimp on the Barbie” The Poms well who knows what they put on a BBQ, since the invasion of SA ex pats there is now wors and the likes that they can BBQ. In SA it seems that in the Krugersdorp area South Africans where Braaing as long as 1000 000 years ago (depending on which archaeologist you listen to) as they have found the bones of animals in a cave that had been burnt by a flame well over 500 degrees celcius, this indicated that the meat in fact had been roasted over a fire.
The word braaivleis (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈbrɑe.flæɪs], English: /ˈbraɪfleɪs/) is Afrikaans for "roasted meat."
A typical braai on a small braaier
The word braai (plural braaie) is Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "roast" and is a social custom in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It originated with the Afrikaner people,[1] but has since been adopted by South Africans of many ethnic backgrounds. The word vleis is Afrikaans for "meat". The word has been adopted by English-speaking South Africans and can be regarded as another word for barbecue, in that it serves as a verb when describing how food is cooked and a noun when describing the cooking equipment, such as a grill. The traditions around a braai can be considerably different from a barbecue, however, even if the method of food preparation is very similar.
Yesterday I was set
ting up a Braai album on Facebook and I was smiling at each photo I posted as each one had a special memory or evoked a song or a smell or a specific joke that had been told on that day. The Braai is a social occasion and basically all you need is a fire, a braai grid, a couple of rocks and some meat and you can have a braai anywhere anytime. When I lived in Clarens many a night you would get a call or you would call people up and the message was always the same…”We’ve decided to have a braai, so bring a dop and a tjop (sometimes a chair) and we will supply the hout and the sout” Viola an instant social gathering and usually a memory in the making.This got me to thinking who can take credit for the Braai, which country can really stick up its hand and say the Braai is ours. Its probably safe to say that the cavemen where the first to actually throw a piece of Brontosaurus on the Braai. I mean at first they ate raw meat and then some clever caveman either “discovered” fire or a natural phenomenon such as a lightning strike hit a tree and the flames where kept alive. Now can you imagine the first “homus erectus” sitting there watching this hypnotic new discovery chewing on a Taro dactyl rib and deciding to throw one on the Barbie (yes he may have live near modern day Sydney). The Braai was born.
What happened next is open to debate but I believe that UG after finding out he could not actually stick in his hand into the flames to retrieve his ribs called over a few mates and showed them his new discovery. Over the years I am sure that the cooking of raw meat was refined and that a ritual was in place when a group of cavemen got together to have a BBQ (yes cavemen still live on the island). Picture the scene if you will. It’s a Saturday night its been a long hard week of trying not to be eaten by a T Rex and the Mammoth hunt was rather tiring having to chase it across Gondwanaland and finding out that due to the continents starting to separate a long swim was necessary to get back home to the cave.
Trog and his mates where chucking back a few Bud Lites (all the cavemen drank Bud lite, have you not seen the adverts??) and while the women where making a salad and basting the meat in a pond scum marinade the conversation could have gone something like this……………..Trog: so did you guys see the Lions take on the Cheetahs last week? UG: yes was rather brutal but I preferred watching the Pumas take on the Bulls at least we got some meat out of that. So how is married life Sid? SID: its great, my wife is a bit of a Sloth but she is really great where it counts…… Scrat: and where would that be SID: keeping me warm at night, she has got so much hair for the first week I thought she was either Portuguese or Polish but she actually is a Sloth.
UG: These T Rex T bones should be nice and the Primordial wombat wors is the bomb, we also have some vegetables and a nice Savannah Salad if you want. ……….etc etc .
So who do we have to thank for the Braai, well many countries do Braai, calling it by many names and for some it’s a “special” occasion. The Yanks tend to Braai hotdogs and hamburger patties, the Aussies like to “throw a shrimp on the Barbie” The Poms well who knows what they put on a BBQ, since the invasion of SA ex pats there is now wors and the likes that they can BBQ. In SA it seems that in the Krugersdorp area South Africans where Braaing as long as 1000 000 years ago (depending on which archaeologist you listen to) as they have found the bones of animals in a cave that had been burnt by a flame well over 500 degrees celcius, this indicated that the meat in fact had been roasted over a fire.
The word braaivleis (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈbrɑe.flæɪs], English: /ˈbraɪfleɪs/) is Afrikaans for "roasted meat."
A typical braai on a small braaier
The word braai (plural braaie) is Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "roast" and is a social custom in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It originated with the Afrikaner people,[1] but has since been adopted by South Africans of many ethnic backgrounds. The word vleis is Afrikaans for "meat". The word has been adopted by English-speaking South Africans and can be regarded as another word for barbecue, in that it serves as a verb when describing how food is cooked and a noun when describing the cooking equipment, such as a grill. The traditions around a braai can be considerably different from a barbecue, however, even if the method of food preparation is very similar.
While wood formerly was the most widely-used braai fuel, in modern times the use of charcoal has increased due to its convenience, as with barbecues elsewhere in the world. There has however been a renewed interest in the use of wood after the South African government started with its invasive plant species removal program. An important distinction between a braai and a barbecue is that it is fairly uncommon for a braai to use gas rather than an open flame
So where is the furthest from SA you have had a Braai? (Germany 1990 – at a wine farm for re-unification) What’s the most interesting place you have had a Braai(Top of mount Horeb 22nd December 2009) and what do you like to braai (all meats are great, but the simple Wors roll of done properly has to be the best Braai food)
Here are a couple of songs, books or movies that have Braai (or should have had Braai ) in their titles.
1) To Braai another day
2) The Life of Braai n
3) The Braaing game
4) Braai the beloved country (great book)
5) Don’t Braai for me Argentina
Well apart from National braai day the weekend was not that exciting, I must say I was disappointed that no
one in PE had arranged a braai day gathering lie Di Salt had done last year in Clarens (that was awesome), so perhaps I will do something for next year. We had Werner and Nadine come and stay with us on Saturday night, that was great, always nice to see people from Clarens, well those that you like that is. Weather has not been great, has been windy and a little chilly, in fact I think the weather was nicer in winter than it is now in what is supposed to be Spring.Sports this weekend was varied, The Warriors won their semi-final and now are 1 game away from becoming the best club team in the world. The Sharks Lost to the Lions 22-20, Cheetahs won as did the Bulls and WP so 3 rd and 4th spot for the semi finals still tight.
This week ahead I have training so will be busy, doing SHE Rep functions on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday.
Apart from that not much else to say, except have a great week and keep safe
Failed my biology exam today. I was asked to name 3 things commonly found in cells. Apparently, Maoris, Poms & Aboriginals is not the correct answer.
Ciao
SPAD
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