In observance of the Lions' tour in South Africa we took on the challenge of trying our hand at a traditional South African Braai. Braai is a South African style of barbecue cooked over wood or charcoal, we cooked ours over charcoal using a Weber Kettle barbecue.

South African Braai originated from Dutch colonisers, and is incredibly popular in modern South African households. Braais are very meat heavy, with a lot of starchy sides like braaibroodjie (a grilled sandwich) and pap, a maize porridge.

Watch the YouTube video below and read on to find out how we made this peri peri chicken, sosaties (lamb and apricot kebabs), and boerewors.

Peri Peri Chicken

Set up your barbecue to an indirect heat and spatchcock your chicken. Season all sides of the chicken with peri peri seasoning and place on the barbecue with the legs towards the fire, as you want these to cook slightly more than the breasts. Once the chicken has reached 75°C in the thickest part of the breast, sear all sides of the chicken over the direct heat. Allow to rest before serving.

Sosaties

Sosaties are a Cape Malay dish of lamb marinated in a spicy sauce and cooked with apricots. Marinate the lamb chunks in traditional marinade of onions, oil, herbs and spices, and apricot jam, and thread the lamb onto kebabs alternating each piece with a dried apricot. Cook over a direct heat until the lamb reaches 60°C for a nice pink middle, and there is a good colour on the outside.

Boerewors

Boerewors are a long spiralled sausages made up from at least 90% beef and lamb or pork mixed in, with the last 10% consists of spices and other ingredients. We cooked up three types of boerewors, a traditional flavoured boerewors, a cheese and a peri peri. Cook the boerewors over a direct heat until you are happy with the colour and char, then cook indirectly until the internal temperature reaches at least 74°C.