The Taino and Carib peoples of the Caribbean and South America were the first people to slow cook meat over a fire. It was the Spanish conquistadores who first found them roasting, drying and smoking meats on a wooden framework over a bed of coals called a barbricot and the Spaniards pronounced it barbacoa.  The Europeans had of course been cooking meat over fires for thousands of years but it wasn’t anything like the low heat and coal method used by the early Indians. Today most countries in the world have culinary traditions that can be referred to as a barbecue. In India, meats are roasted over charcoal in tandoor (a clay oven). In Jamaica, pork and chicken are barbequed jerk style over a slow fire of wood from the all-spice tree. In Mexico, whole goats are often butterflied, skewered and cooked over a slow fire. In Cuba, pit-roasted pigs are the traditional Christmas Eve dinner. In Brazil, churrasco refers to the technique of cooking meat on skewers over open pits – churrascaria restaurants are famous for their all-you-can-eat style of service. Americans, when cooking their steaks, hamburgers  or fish over an open fire refer to it as grilling rather than barbecueing and in South Africa, we call it a braai - we use Webers,  drums, pre-fabricated grills, built in braais and some of us even use metal or brick pits to braai our meat . It is also a national pastime and is done all year round – it’s not uncommon to see a group of men huddled around a fire with an umbrella in one hand and a beer in the other.  As a service to our male readers, we drew up a barbecue menu to help with your entertaining this coming weekend – complete with recipes and we hope you have fun.

WINE COUNTRY SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN

Ingredients

• 1 good sized free range chicken
• 2 tbsp aniseed
• 3 lemons, zest and juice
• 2 onions, grated
• 1 whole bunch fresh coriander, chopped
• 2 generous tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 4 fat cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 tsp hot smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (if you have a sensitive palate, reduce this to  ½)
• 1 pinch saffron threads
• 250 ml extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

• Toast the aniseeds in a pan until they become fragrant and then crush them in a pestle and mortar.
• Combine the aniseed, the grated lemon zest, the lemon juice, the onions, the chopped coriander, the ginger, the garlic, the paprika, the cayenne pepper, the saffron and some salt (to taste) and whisk in the olive oil – taste the mixture and add a grating of pepper but take care as there is a good amount of heat in the mixture already.
• Pour the mixture into a large Ziploc bag and pop the chicken inside, remove the air and make sure that the marinade reaches all parts of the chicken (if you have no Ziploc bag, put the chicken in a suitable container with a lid).
• Place the chicken and marinade in the oven overnight.
• Remove from the fridge about an hour before you want to cook it  - braai over medium-hot coals, basting it with the remaining marinade – once the juices run clear and the skin is crisp, the chicken is ready.

SKILPADJIES WITH A DIFFERENCE

Ingredients

• 10 pieces of caul fat
• 150 g rump steak  (beef or venison is great here)
• 1 kg lambs liver
• 100 g mutton fat
• 1 small un-waxed orange, grated zest only
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Cover the caul fat with water until it is ready to use.
• Prepare the filling by dicing the steak, the liver and the mutton fat (quite small) and then add the onions, the garlic, the orange zest, the salt and the pepper and mix well.
• Take a piece of caul fat and lay it out flat (carefully) – check to see that there are no tears in the lattice.
• Drape the piece of caul fat over your hand and put a large spoonful of the meat mixture into the cup of your hand, then using your other hand, fold over the caul fat to cover the meat mixture – do this carefully.
• Secure the ends with toothpicks and then put on a tray that has been lined with plastic wrap – cover it and repeat the process.
• To braai, place on the braai grid over gentle coals and cook very slowly for about half an hour to 40 minutes, turning halfway during the cooking process.

NUTTY PILAF

Ingredients

• 400 g basmati rice
• 100 g raisins
• 100 g flaked almonds, toasted
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 4 tsp grated lime zest
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 4 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed
• 4 tbsp parsley leaves, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

• In a large saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions until the are translucent and soft, stir in the rice and cook, stirring continuously for 4 minutes.
• Add the raisins, the chilli, the lime zest, the cinnamon sticks, the cardamom seeds, salt to taste and about a litre of water, stir well.
• Cover the saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes until the water has been absorbed completely.
• In the meantime, toast the almond flakes lightly, in a dry non-stick frying pan and set aside.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and fluff up the rice with a fork, stir in the almonds and the parsley and season to taste.
• Serve with the mielies and a huge green salad.

BRAAI MIELIES WITH CHILLI AND LIME

Ingredients

• 6 mielies with  husks

Butter

• 100 g butter
• 1 good tsp finely ground red chillies
• 2 limes, grated zest and juice

Method

• Make the butter by mixing all the ingredients and set aside
• Peel back the husks and remove the silks – place them in a pot of boiling, salted water and cook for only 10 minutes.
• Drain and refresh under cold water – dry each mielie well.
• Brush the each mielie with the butter mixture and then fold the husks over the mielie again.
• Put them on a grid over slow burning coals, turning them occasionally – as soon as the husks are charred, remove from the heat and allow to rest for a few minutes – otherwise you’ll burn your hands.
• Pull the husks back and twist them together to form a handle.
• If you don’t have mielies with husks, use the butter mixture to baste by warming it and brushing it over the mielie and turning it over the coals until it is golden and the butter is finished.
• Tip: don’t char the husks so that they become black – nobody likes black soot all over their clothes – you need to just char them so that the butter and spices flavour the mielie – make sure the coals are slow burning.

WATERMELON SORBET

Ingredients

• 1 watermelon , cut into wedges and seeds taken out
• golden caster sugar to taste

Method

• Peel  the watermelon and cut the flesh into chunks.
• Purée in a food processor until smooth and then add the sugar, a couple of tbsp at a time, until it’s sweet enough – keep in mind that the cold minimize the flavour a little.
• Chill the purée for two hours and then freeze in a container or churn in an electric ice-cream machine.
• Store the sorbet in the freezer until ready to serve.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Share, print or e-mail:

This post was written by:

Jacoba Budden- who has written 71 posts on the WineCountry Blog. Jacoba's fascination with food began at a very early age and in her travels found herself gravitating towards a kitchen whenever it was possible. She traveled extensively in the past 30 years and food as well as it's history, eventually, became an all consuming obsession. Today she lives in Somerset West and when she's not studying and writing about food, she's a free lance food critic.

Author's web site: Just Food Now

Read more in Food, Food & Wine Pairings, Recipes.

The last 3 posts by Jacoba Budden

• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Boerewors
• Tomato and Honey Chicken