Rambling around in search of the next great bite, I meet some fascinating people.  In these series, I would love to introduce some of them to theBrideScoop readers.  Look for GOURMET RAMBLER PRESENTS articles in the future to meet these fellow food explorers.

Today, allow me to introduce my favorite South African import, Candyce Paraggua.  Candyce and I met on twitter and for that I am very thankful.  Candyce describes herself as “a newlywed with a passion for eating, cooking and exploring”.  Read her many food musings on her blog.  Enjoy!  ~ Gourmet Rambler

THE SOUTH AFRICAN BRAAI
by Candyce Paraggua

When friends ask me about the traditional dishes I grew up with, it’s difficult to answer.  Why?  I’m from South Africa, where the country’s cuisine is often called the “rainbow cuisine”.  South African cities have an eclectic and diverse mix of natives that include the Xhosa and Zulu tribes and descendants of the Dutch and British settlers and their slaves from Southeast Asia.  As you can imagine, this creates a South African smorgasbord in every home’s kitchen.  From my family’s kitchens, you could smell everything from comforting shepherd’s pie to spicy Indian/Malay curries.

The most popular dish, however, is more of an event:  the braai.  So popular, in fact, that South Africans celebrate “National Braai Day” on September 24 as a national holiday.  The full word is “braaivleis” – meaning grilled meat – and is now mostly referred to by the shortened, slang version, “braai”.

Braai (Photo from www.runnersworld.co.za)

On the typical braai menu, you’ll find T-bone steaks, lamb chops, peri-peri chicken (peri-peri is a a sauce made with the African birdseye chili) and veggie skewers.  On EVERY braai menu, you’ll find Boerewors – the traditional South African sausage, translated from Afrikaans as “farmer’s sausage”.  While most families pick theirs up from the local grocery or butcher shop, my Dad properly makes ours at home using minced beef and pork, lots of cumin, coriander, allspice, nutmeg and coursely ground pepper.  What you get after it’s been braai’d (yes, the word is used as a verb too), is a juicy, uniquely spiced sausage that has South Africa written all over it.  We have it as a snack while the rest of the meat cooks, but it can be eaten in a bun, with grilled onions and tomato relish (chakalaka), as a “boerewors roll” for the ultimate beer companion.

Boerewors Roll (Photo from www.simply-delicious.co.za)

As with all traditional ethnic dishes worldwide, it can be difficult to replicate those flavors and be transported back to your childhood home.  In the melting pot of the US, however, anything is possible and even those few traditional South African dishes have made their way over the Atlantic.  Aptly named “Braai” in New York City, has a menu choc-full of all my favorite goodies:  Boerewors, grilled chicken, Portuguese chicken livers and Peri-peri prawns.  While there is no such restaurant in Chicago (yet!), you can still find boerewors.  Take a drive out to Casey’s Foods in Naperville where you’ll find a pack in the fridges for about $12 or follow the Haute Sausage food truck and get the Boerewors Chakalaka roll for a delicious lunch fix.  If those fail, ask my Dad for a custom order and celebrate National Braai Day along with us on September 24!