Make it a bougie braai day

PETE GOFFE-WOOD

Chef, restaurateur, previous judge on MasterChef SA and celebrity Ultimate Braai Master judge — about to begin filming their ninth season — Pete has authored three cookbooks and spends much of his time sharing his skills consulting to the hospitality industry. More recently he has taken to the stage with comedian Chris Forrest and together they are touring the country with their comedy show “Don’t Burn Your Sausage”.

The Braai Master's Braai Tips

1. Control your heat — always think about what you’re going to be cooking and how much heat and time is required. The heat required to cook chickens quarters is very different to that needed to sear a steak.

2. Always clean your braai grid, this nonsense of “burning it clean” is just lazy. The carbon that builds up on your braai grid is a terrible transmitter of heat; a good clean grid gets much hotter and therefore better to cook on.

3. Always season whatever you are cooking before it goes on the fire, that way the salt will help form a seasoned crust on it’s exterior and will be much tastier as a result. 

4. I love cooking and eating big cuts on the bone — so if I had my choice of my very last braai dish it would be a giant 2kg prime rib, paired with a good Shiraz and unlimited amounts of Béarnaise sauce.

Mozambican Peri Peri Sauce

My sauce came about from time spent consulting a client on Benguerra Island in Mozambique. It’s got a decent kick of heat but it’s more flavoursome than hot and goes fabulously with anything cooked over coals. ​

2kg red Serrano chillies700g castor sugar500ml (2 cups) white wine vinegar2 litres water200g fresh garlic, peeled2 x 400g cans peeled tomatoesSalt and pepper

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large pot and bring to the boil with a lid on. Reduce the heat and cook for 25 minutes.

2. Remove from the heat and put everything into a liquidizer and blitz until smooth.

3. Strain the mixture and then season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. ⁠Put 1 or 2 spoons of the chilli seeds from the strainer back into the sauce.

5. ⁠Pour into a large glass container with a lid and refrigerate.

MOKGADI ITSWENG

Much loved foodie and celeb chef who champions her plant-based lifestyle through her  vegetarian wisdom and delicious recipes, a feast of green that features indigenous and forgotten ingredients. Itsweng is also the author of VeggieLicious (Human & Rousseau).

Itsweng’s Braai Tips

1. Cut your vegetables into large chunks or steaks as this makes them easier to handle on the braai. There are very handy braai baskets on the market that assist by keeping the veggies from falling into the fire.
2. It is essential to brush chosen vegetables with oil before — and frequently during — cooking and to enhance the flavour of the veggies by adding fresh or dried herbs to the oil, garlic, seasoning and, if desired, some spice to give them a boost of heat.
3. The best part of braaied veggies is the charred edges that pack a power house of flavour. Start off on low to medium coals to cook the greens then allow them to char nicely around towards the end of cooking.

IMPEPHO SMOKED CAULIFLOWER WITH RED PEPPER SAUCE

Mpepho or wild sage is an African indigenous herb that is used a lot by traditional healers in spiritual prayer rituals. The herb adds so much flavour to any smoked food and you can smoke any vegetable with it. My red pepper sauce is excellent with almost any vegetable cooked over the coals.

Serves 4-6

1 whole cauliflower head

1- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed.

60ml (¼ cup) olive oil

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Sauce:

2 red peppers

30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

15ml (1 tbsp) smoked paprika.

60ml (¼ cup) lemon juice 

15ml (1 tbsp) brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 handful parsley or thyme, chopped

1. Prepare the coals for an indirect fire in a kettle braai. Bring a saucepan of water with a teaspoon salt to a boil, then add the whole cauliflower. Cook for 10 -15 minutes then drain from water and set aside.
2. When the coals are ready sprinkle a handful of the dried mpepho herb over the coals. Place the cauliflower on a metal container with flat sides in the centre.
3. Mix the garlic with olive oil and brush the oil over the whole cauliflower, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Close the lid and brush the cauliflower with the oil every 15 minutes until it is crisp and cooked through and has a nice char over it.
4. While the cauliflower is roasting start the sauce and place the peppers in the kettle braai and cook, turning frequently until the skin is blackened.  Remove the peppers from oven and place in a bowl, cover with clingwrap and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Once cooled, peel the skin off and blend the peppers. Set aside.
5. Heat oil, then add garlic, paprika and cook for two minutes at medium heat. Add the blended peppers and cook for five minutes, stirring continuously making sure that the sauce doesn’t stick and burn. Add the lemon juice and brown sugar, cook for a further two minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
6. Place the whole roasted cauliflower or steaks on a platter and pour over the red  pepper sauce and top with herbs.

KARL TESSENDORF AND GREG GILOWEY

These two fire fundi's have two favourite accessories — braai tongs and beer. Lucky for us they've incorporated their passion and wisdom in two inspiring cookbooks. Their first, Blackouts & Boerewors, which features 40 bright braai recipes for “dark times”, was  brought out during load-shedding. Their latest, Pots, Pans & Potjies takes the joy of cooking real slow, featuring recipes made in an array of cast iron cookware over the coals. Both cookbooks are a feast of flavours. Said the duo: “If we were on death row for being caught using a gas braai, my last meal would be a braaibroodjie, and Greg’s would be a wors roll.”

Both books are published by Penguin Random House

Karl and Greg's Top Braai Tips

1. Always make a bigger fire than you think you need, and always use a combination of hardwood and charcoal. Lay a base of charcoal and firelighter, then build your wood stack on top. Even if the wood is wet, the coals will keep the fire going until it catches.
2. Always season your meat a day in advance. Salt your steak, chops, or chicken well and place it on a rack uncovered in the fridge overnight. This dry brine flavours the meat and helps dry out the surface of whatever you’re cooking. Moisture is the enemy of a good sear, and no-one wants a grey steak! 
3. Don’t be afraid of the fire. Give whatever you’re braaiing — steak, wors, or veggies — a hard sear on the fire because colour = flavour. You can always adjust your cooking height or coal intensity to drop the heat at a later stage.

SMOOR-SE-LEKKER ROOSTERKOEK BOERIES

There are boerie rolls and then there are these kick-ass boeriekoek.

Feeds 4-6

Overnight for dough and proofing time

Cook: 30 min

 Roosterkoek:

500g cake wheat flour

350g water

15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil

15ml (1 tbsp) sugar

5g (1 tsp) instant yeast

5ml (1 tsp) salt

Tomato Smoor:

Olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

30ml (2 tbsp) tomato paste

A knob of butter

15ml (1 tbsp) dried mixed herbs

15ml (1 tbsp) paprika

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

125ml (1/2 cup) water

15ml (1 tbsp) sugar

15ml (1 tbsp) fish sauce

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Boeries:

600g thick wors

To serve:

Butter

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough in a large mixing bowl until no dry flour remains. Turn out the shaggy dough onto a work surface and knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough is soft and pliable. Place it back in the bowl and cover. Let it proof in a warm spot until it doubles in size.
2. To make the smoor set a pot or pan over medium heat. Heat a glug of olive oil and fry the onion until it softens and browns. Add the garlic, tomato paste and butter and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the herbs and paprika and fry for another minute until fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes, water, sugar and fish sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered until the liquid reduces and the smoor is thickened to your liking. Remove from the heat and season to taste.
4. Turn out the proofed dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide it into 10 pieces and shape into balls. Arrange the balls on lightly floured tray and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Proof again for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size.
5. Set up your fire in two zones: one medium-hot and one medium. Braai the wors over medium-hot coals until the exterior is caramelised and cooked to your liking. We like our wors a little pink in the middle. 
6. At the same time braai the roosterkoek over medium-heat coals, turning frequently. When the roosterkoek sound hollow when tapped with a finger, they are done. Roosterkoek can take up to 20 minutes to bake, so plan accordingly. 
7. To assemble, slice the roosterkoek open and butter generously. Top with wors and smoor. Season to taste and serve.

JANBRAAI

Jan Scannell aka Jan Braai is the man behind the National Braai Day initiative encouraging all South Africans to unite around fire to share and celebrate our heritage on September 24 each year, a journey he started 20 years ago. He’s published many books on his passion for cooking over the coals. His latest, hot off the press, is Atmosfire (Penguin Random House) and covers everything from breakfast to hamburgers, steak, pasta and pizza. It's a tome of excellent and unusual ideas for cooking over the fire and is definitely one for braai aficionados.

Jan Braai Boerewors Tips

• When done over direct heat and very hot coals, braaing boerewors is not difficult at all. You do it in a hinged grid and you turn it once.
• The trick is not to braai boerewors great, the trick is to braai great boerewors; and to braai great boerewors you have to buy great boerewors. Quality boerewors costs as much as quality meat sold in a different shape, it just comes with more work to get it to your braai fire in the shape of great boerewors.
• For boerewors to taste like boerewors it needs to be spiced with salt, pepper, coriander, cloves and nutmeg. The real boerewors I make is made from 70% lean beef and 30% pork belly meat so you have a great mix of meat and fat. Serve your boerewors rolls with monkey gland sauce, the globally acclaimed original South African relish.

BOEREWORS ROLLS WITH MONKEY GLAND SAUCE

WHAT YOU NEED (FEEDS 6)

6 hot dog rolls

1 pack quality boerewors 
(about 600g — you will need 
6 lengths of boerewors)

Monkey Gland Sauce:

1 onion

1 tot olive oil

125ml (½ cup) tomato sauce

125ml (½ cup) chutney

1 tot (25ml) Worcestershire sauce

Water

WHAT TO DO

1. Slice open the hot dog rolls. Chop the onion for the sauce.
2. In a pot or pan over medium heat, fry the onion in the olive oil until soft and golden.

Add the rest of the sauce ingredients (except for the water) and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring fairly often to make sure it doesn’t burn. If the sauce gets too thick for your liking or starts to stick to the bottom of the pot and burn, stir in a little water.

3. After simmering for 10 minutes, the sauce is ready to serve. Set it aside, but keep it warm until you have finished braaing the boerewors.

1. Now, it’s time to braai the boerewors! Place the wors in a hinged grid and close the grid. Braai for 4 minutes on one side over very hot coals. Turn the grid once, then braai for 4 minutes on the other side. The boerewors will be browned in some parts and grey in other parts. Boerewors of average thickness braaied over very hot coals and turned only once will usually be done in 8 minutes. Try it like this and in future adjust the braai time, grid height and coal heat based on your results. When in doubt, always braai your boerewors for a shorter time rather than longer.
2. Remove the boerewors from the fire. The juices on the inside of the wors should be bubbling. Wait for the bubbles to relax, then break or cut the wors into 6 pieces, long enough to fit inside the hot dog rolls. Overhangs are allowed. Place a piece of boerewors in each roll and top with a few spoons of monkey gland sauce.