The occasion that is marketed as national braai day is over and the fires have been put out - so it is time to ask: how was that for you?
All South Africans consider that they know how to braai, and that of course their plate of wors and chops is simply the best.
Why then have I eaten so many charred and leathery steaks? Pretended so many times not to notice the uncooked flesh sitting on the chicken bone? Why, oh why, have I waited so long for the meal to arrive that I feel the plate would be tastier?
Simple really: very many people do not in fact know how to do a good braai, even though they think they do.
And the reason that so many braais are so terrible is that, by and large, the people doing them are men who do not know how to cook anything else. And they learned their braaing skills from the same kind of men.
Hanging round a fire; they observed their fathers, brothers, cousins doing this thing and concluded that all that was needed was meat, beer and flame. Put them together and you have a meal.
But making a braai is in fact just a kind of cooking: things like temperature, length of cooking, choice of ingredients, care and love count just as much as they do when you are roasting a chicken, or frying an omelette.
And now, dear reader, brace yourself for I can tell you how I know this: my Engish-born husband who arrived in South Africa in his 20s does the best braai that I know. The meat is tender, it arrives at the table at the proper time and it is delicious.
This is because for him braaing is a learned skill, rather than a set of inherited assumptions. He is also the cook in our house, with firm opinions and deep experience in the ways of the stove. And that experience gets transferred to the grill, where he has many opinions. Wood rather than charcoal, spice rather than marinade, if you must know.
So, if deep in your heart you suspect your braai may not be up to scratch, perhaps you should take a step back and learn to cook first?
IOL
@reneemoodie