help form S.A members

[petite]

haha hilarious!!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I think the term 'braai' has a very wide range here and not all are created equal. I've seen a few shows on what we would call a braai about the culture in Argentina and I have to admit it looks like you boys over the Atlantic take it to another level though I don't know how widespread it is. The one video I saw had a whole area covered with fires and meats on racks of ribs and all manner of meats standing upright all over the place.

I'm not one for rubs myself though it depends on whats on the menu. Generally at my place its a fillet steak with salt, pepper and olive oil with boerewors and braaibroodjies (sandwich with onion, tomato, cheddar and seasoning on the grill) and either mielies, patatoes or onions in the fire. The women see after the rest of it. The steak I cut up and put on the braai again for those who like it a little less pink. Most South Africans would call me a fool but I'm not one for chops. At least I prefer my steak ahead of a couple of lamb chops.

 

[petite]

you mean something like this? this is what we call asador. it's great but not the most common I do it sometimes but you need space! and lots of guests we usually do it in a much simpler way I ll probably cook this week end. I'll post some pics.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

View attachment 7365
you mean something like this? this is what we call asador. it's great but not the most common I do it sometimes but you need space! and lots of guests we usually do it in a much simpler way I ll probably cook this week end. I'll post some pics.

Ja, that sort of thing precisely. I've seen a few. On Netflix's 'chef's table" for instance. One I saw a clip of was on an insane scale. I'll keep an eye out for your picks- please do upload!

I think we braai pretty frequently. Myself only once a week generally speaking but my closest neighbours for instance 4 times (like clockwork Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays). We tend to have dedicated spaces inside and out which is essentially a built (brick and mortar) slab with a flue. That's probably 80% of it in SA. At least "middle class white" SA. I regularly had to submit building plans at Khayelitsha (these days it all digital) and the guys there use half drums with fixed grills on wheels next to the main roads. I had pulled over a bite a few times. Very tasty. Because they pull up for the whole day they tend to have lower heat and the meat propped up (on display to the road). Not prime cuts usually and mostly in a sousatie (kebab) or chicken and heavy on the marinate but very tasty. I won't say no. Good for a R10 (at least back then).

The craziest braai I've experience is on my dad's uncle's cattle farm outside Klerksdorp. He has a huge shed which he quips is mostly only there to catch rainwater as you don't farm with cattle per se as much as with cattle feed in SA. Anyway, he made such a hot fire with corn cobs that you can't get anywhere near it. He used a pulley system to get a purpose made grill out over and above for a minute, pulled on a chain to turn it over and then got it back out again. Steak 3 fingers thick (almost triangular in shape- I can't say precisely what cut. Should've asked) and not fitting on your plate. With another plate for 'sides'. I only ate like a quarter of mine. It was right up there for me . Probably like the 4/5th best I've had. Charred pitch black on the outside but oh soft, juicy, rare for the rest of it. Probably not the way I'd do it but it got the job done. I've never seen anyone else do it that way though both in terms of the style and generosity but these are big boys.

 

[petite]

Ja, that sort of thing precisely. I've seen a few. On Netflix's 'chef's table" for instance. One I saw a clip of was on an insane scale. I'll keep an eye out for your picks- please do upload!

I think we braai pretty frequently. Myself only once a week generally speaking but my closest neighbours for instance 4 times (like clockwork Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays). We tend to have dedicated spaces inside and out which is essentially a built (brick and mortar) slab with a flue. That's probably 80% of it in SA. At least "middle class white" SA. I regularly had to submit building plans at Khayelitsha (these days it all digital) and the guys there use half drums with fixed grills on wheels next to the main roads. I had pulled over a bite a few times. Very tasty. Because they pull up for the whole day they tend to have lower heat and the meat propped up (on display to the road). Not prime cuts usually and mostly in a sousatie (kebab) or chicken and heavy on the marinate but very tasty. I won't say no. Good for a R10 (at least back then).

The craziest braai I've experience is on my dad's uncle's cattle farm outside Klerksdorp. He has a huge shed which he quips is mostly only there to catch rainwater as you don't farm with cattle per se as much as with cattle feed in SA. Anyway, he made such a hot fire with corn cobs that you can't get anywhere near it. He used a pulley system to get a purpose made grill out over and above for a minute, pulled on a chain to turn it over and then got it back out again. Steak 3 fingers thick (almost triangular in shape- I can't say precisely what cut. Should've asked) and not fitting on your plate. With another plate for 'sides'. I only ate like a quarter of mine. It was right up there for me . Probably like the 4/5th best I've had. Charred pitch black on the outside but oh soft, juicy, rare for the rest of it. Probably not the way I'd do it but it got the job done. I've never seen anyone else do it that way though both in terms of the style and generosity but these are big boys.

yep we have all sorts of asados and everybody will have it s own technic but esentially i would say we dont marinade. we like to feel the taste of the meat. amd we do the fire separately.
the main diference is the landscape our cattle es breeded in very flat landsacpe with natural grass (that is what you try to get) i guess that due to the mountan landscapes there in SA you have your cattle more muscular therefore more chewy as happens in brasil (they use cebu) in arg nobody would eat that.
unfortunately more and more feed lots are beeing used and that kind of meat will be more Porkish the red less intense and the fat less white. ill be tender but the taste will resemble the pork.
The most common cut would be caw rib (called asasdo) my favorite is more and more popular lately "ojo de bife" something similar to rib eye. another favorite is the entraña (the breathing muscle) the classics are called "vacio"and "asado" very tipical oldschool. another classic is matambre (the name comes from "mata hambre" (hunger killer) despectivly called so, cos in the old days only poor gauchos eat it. the most delicate is called "lomo" the back
almost everywhere else people would eat just meat, but i think many of us could distinguish with eyes closed the differnent cuts. each one of them have different tastes
i used to do it once a week too but lately (last 10 years ) the prices slowly escalated to the world standards (it used to be cheap) and also the health, cos many asados turn into marathonic eating fest.
kebab stile is a way of making a shity piece of meat taste good and become tender and i love it!! i had great bbq in south USA, texas or tennessie for example they use to smoke it and maritate it. again those long slow cooking will tenderize the meat. they use the brisket (here called falda) for us a cheap cut that nobody wants! but in hands of a good asador is also good. tipicaly used by the construction workers on friday lunch specialy. they usually cook them in improvised parrillas (grills) and use leftover pieces o wood from the contruction. in the usa they also breed they cattle huge. but smoked for 10 hs are just delicious (they have nothing to envy us is just another style)
our best one is the angus " Ternera" under 170 kilo baby cow. then a second good is "novillo" (little new) up to 430 k over that kg in arg is to do burgers
about the grill we have all sorts of them but allways have a place to do the fire away from the grill. and adjustable hight. if you have space (garden ) you have a pernanent grill made with bricks chimney included. some people would even grill in the balcony (unplesent for neighbours)
it looks like your uncle knows hes deal!!
a few months ago i opened a threat about braai asados and bbqs ill like to see somo of your stuff new ideas are allways welcome. latelly ive been trying rubs and bbq sauce that i pick up in the usa and same smoking too.
i allways do potatoes and sweet potatoes just put them in the embers, flip them a few times until its soft inside (just stick a knife to see) some people put them in aluminium foil, but i like to cook them with the shell and then open them in the middle and add some litlle salt and butter they pick up the a smokey taste!!
i hope the other agies help me here @Cruz_del_Sur @FNS @justanargie @Horacito ??

 

[unrated]

I would never reccomend a tourist especially a white tourist to lurk around the Durban CBD , and yes there are many Indians in Durban, its the city with the highest concetration of Indians in the world (Outside of India). As a tourist Balito or Umhlanga Rocks would have been a better experience especially if you want to walk the streets.

The best kind of Braai is with Steak, Boerewors and Lamb tjops

The lamb tjops you braai for longer with lemon juice and salt and peper

The Boerewors you just braai as is out of the packet

Our way of making the steak is over a very hot fire, you dont throw any salt or peper or spices over for the majority of the time it is on the braai, Only when it is close to done then you add your pepper, salt and spice. (The spice i use is the Robertson Steak and tjops spice which consists of paprika,pimento,chili, garlic, coriander, oraginum, thyme and sage) If you spice and salt it too early it gets tough, and we dont want to keep it on for too long as its not a spit! No marinade and no rub thats the texan way

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

The steak

This is something most non-argentines find surprising so i'd thought i'd mention it.
It is INCREDIBLY rare to eat steak when barbecuing in Argentina. I kid you not.
BBQing for us is about trying different cuts, and steak tends to be eaten standalone.

 

[petite]

I would never reccomend a tourist especially a white tourist to lurk around the Durban CBD , and yes there are many Indians in Durban, its the city with the highest concetration of Indians in the world (Outside of India). As a tourist Balito or Umhlanga Rocks would have been a better experience especially if you want to walk the streets.

yep we got a lot of staring there too! my kid had a psg mbape shirt that many people comented. dont know why it called their attention.
you are right its not for tourists! and the structure of the city wont help due to the amount of highways like an america the city. is not desigend for walking. nevertheles im glad we visited the acuarium there it just blew our minds specially my kid. it is world class and weve never seen semething like that before. bull sharks rays and a gigantic 400 kilo fish whos name i cant remember in english.
It provably had some good places to walk around we did near the natural science museun nice building and colection. people where walking around there. we also visited a parsi museum (cant remember how to spell it) a black lady there gave as a very interesting tour, with lots of information and stuff about different trives. it was also very good. it remind me of an old tv show that loved as a kid called shaka zulu. guess its famous there too. so it was nice to see shakas land.
a pity that we didnt catch a rugby game at kings park!!

 

[petite]

This is something most non-argentines find surprising so i'd thought i'd mention it.
It is INCREDIBLY rare to eat steak when barbecuing in Argentina. I kid you not.
BBQing for us is about trying different cuts, and steak tends to be eaten standalone.

yep

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

a few months ago i opened a threat about braai asados and bbqs ill like to see somo of your stuff new ideas are allways welcome. @Cruz_del_Sur @FNS @justanargie @Horacito ??

I'll have a look for it so as not to further derail your thread and pick it up from there! Tx!

This is something most non-argentines find surprising so i'd thought i'd mention it.
It is INCREDIBLY rare to eat steak when barbecuing in Argentina. I kid you not.
BBQing for us is about trying different cuts, and steak tends to be eaten standalone.

Not sure I follow to be honest. In SA we call most cuts 'steak'.

I still get the general idea you guys have one over on us in terms of your Asado tradition. I guess we at least have it that our meat is still very affordable especially if you know how to get it. We also import a lot from Namibia. A friend of mine farms with veggies and has a side of cattle and even the poorest of the poor get good Angus. He sells to them at near enough cost though (wants to maintain good relations as he borders an informal settlement) and they club together to buy the entire cattle. But this is now 'off the books' as they slaughter it there and then, divide it and use every single part of the cattle. Doing the slaughtering (and travel) by code at the abbatoir is what makes it too expensive for the people in informal employment. So quantity over quality here but I've had red meat abroad and I think I our 'entry level' is quite good. I won't buy red meat in Europe at a store EVER AGAIN!

 

[petite]

I'm sad to see I missed this thread during my hiatus but glad you had a memorable experience (apart from the wrong the kind of memorable of course). Yeah, we have some issues in SA but now you also know the draw cards.

Had I've seen it I'd have fought tooth and nail that you only need to stop in at the Western and Eastern Cape though Addo Park is not quite the Kruger the rest more than makes up for it. Sorry you had to experience the Northern cities. Our waters are only too cold for the limp wristed. I mean isn't cold water what you are looking for on a sunny beach day?! Okay, so Clifton is very cold but just go in and out for short swims and tans. Really refreshing. A few cramped toes is worth the visit to Gansbaai for the Great Whites.

I am the president of make the giraffe part of the big 5 club. Not really but I should get a campaign going. Leopards might as well not exist and don't have the charisma of cheetahs. Buffalo have zero charisma when compared to a giraffe. Hell even an Eland is more impressive IMO. dare huge birds and the white and black feathers are impressive. Also, put a buffalo and hippo next to each other and tell me you aren't more scared of the hippo. Big 5 should be IMO: Lion, Elephant, Giraffe, Eland and Ostrich. My reasoning is that an Eland is the most impressive of the buffalo/buck variety, rhino and hippo fall into the same category where the elephant is king, the lion picks itself. Giraffe is the tallest land mammal, hugely interesting and the ostrich is the biggest bird. Easy.

My idea of the best SA has to offer on a reasonable budget/time frame is Cape Town CBD 1 day just the city. Day 2: Table mountain the morning into Clifton for beach and sundowners. Day 3: Kirstenbosch morning walk to Hout Bay fish and chips lunch taking the worlds prettiest drive (Chapmans Peak f course) into Cape point or Simons Town/Kalkbaai if you've had enough hiking already for now. Day 4: From there take the N2 stopping over at Hermanus (in whale season?) and visiting the Hemel and Aarde wine district (Stellenbosch/Franschhoek is better but thats more out of the way here unless you fit it in as a day trip while in Cape Town- but I think H&A is underrated). Day 5 shark cage diving in Gansbaai, make your way to Addo park visting the usual stops along the way. Day 6 and 7 at Addo. That's my best SA experience in a compact form. Though I do admit the Karoo, West Coast, East Coast and Laeveld have their own attractions, Cape Town into Garden Route is the best for me. The only thing is Addo doesn't have giraffes.. but my newly formed organization will sort that out.

i missed this post! everybody said i should go to cape town and provably i should have. we didnt cos we felt that the montain landscape is more similar to what we have here (plenty) my brother runs a few cabins in a national park called "los alerces" wich is great place elevated cold jungle snow lakes and we already know that we go often.
cape town must be very nice no doubt but we where not looking for a nice city. we went to joburg only as scale the same with durban (it was a good place to drop the car)
about the big five defenetly i should be at least the big 6! i thougth that the buffalo was dull untill i saw one a few meters away! man what a magnificent animal it was a big old bull massive!! i did not even know about the existence of kudus and eland! what a formidable animals they are and we heard eland could go on growing undefenetly! we saw a few that where realy big (those could also get in the club as you say) we loved the rhinos (my sons favorite) and cos they are more difficult to spot than elefants and an endengered species so i rate them high we where not so impresed by the Ostriches cos we have a similar bird called ñandú a bit smaller but similar. hippos where great too incredible creatures!!
i think both SA and arg have lots in common big places losts of nature, failing economies (a week before leaving argentina the peso was devaluated by 40 %!!!!) we dont have the same kind of racial problems (i read about the xenophobia attacks when i came back) but we have a severe political division. hopefully is non violent ) it was in the past. we also have losts of national parcks 38!! and we both do wine and asados/braai. i think most of you would enjoy visiting argentina. buenos aires is certenly more friendly than jobourg but is no disneyland!! if you go the the wrong place some **** can happen. but is easy to walk arround (not in summer)
if you ever come you should see the iguazu waterfalls (they used to be much better) now is to many infrastructure and too much people but the waterfalls are just unbelivable. the glaciars at perito moreno. los alerces with the 3000 year old trees and pristine rivers that you can just drink the water.
another grat place (but difficult to get) is the gigantic swamps of ibera (maybe the closest thing to kruger in terms of animal species) but not even close to the ones in SA
but the place is full of species that are only found there the gigant mouse Capibara the caiman called yacare. in away is similar to santa lucia. you can also get 5 diffent species in the same photo.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Not sure I follow to be honest. In SA we call most cuts 'steak'.
My bad then. Steak generally refers to a couple of cuts, most from the back of the animal, more often than not the most expensive ones.

 

[User1245]

I think the difference between an Asado and a braai is that an Asado is more of an event. Similar to a spit braai. The pic below is for wedding caterers.

Whereas a traditional braai is just another way to cook your day to day meat. Like one of the guys mentioning that their neighbour does it 4 times a week. The braai is always ready to go, just needs a flame to get going.

I'm might be speaking for myself but I don't think many South Africans know cuts of meat very well. It's a tjop, a steak or ribs, doesn't really matter what part of the animal it comes from. Granted you know when you're grabbing a piece of chuck you're going to have a chewy piece of meat but just about nobody knows where it comes from. It's more about preference (favour, chewiness and $$$) when meat is chosen.

 

[petite]

I think the difference between an Asado and a braai is that an Asado is more of an event. Similar to a spit braai. The pic below is for wedding caterers.

Whereas a traditional braai is just another way to cook your day to day meat. Like one of the guys mentioning that their neighbour does it 4 times a week. The braai is always ready to go, just needs a flame to get going.

I'm might be speaking for myself but I don't think many South Africans know cuts of meat very well. It's a tjop, a steak or ribs, doesn't really matter what part of the animal it comes from. Granted you know when you're grabbing a piece of chuck you're going to have a chewy piece of meat but just about nobody knows where it comes from. It's more about preference (favour, chewiness and $$$) when meat is chosen.

the pic looks yummy! !you are probably right asado is a moment to share with family or friends. you hardly do an Asado for yourself
but you can also, and many people do, more informal smaller "asaditos" but 4 times a week would take you to an early grave! think that more than once a week wold be very rare!
but your pic looks more like the sort of thing you'll get for a wedding or big celebrations.

 

[justanargie]

Well, last posts made me hungry...

Hat off petite, thanks for sharing!

I have SA in my trip list, awesome, I would go with Kruguer and Cape Town (great beaches I think) but my kids should be bigger I guess.
Is it me or the SH tourism is growing between this nations? For instance, air nz is growing in Arg. Personally, I like vacations in nature, fan of the beach to rest so I like this.

 

[petite]

got this curry powder in durban! so! good loved it! difficult to get good spice here. should have got more!
ideas on how to use it welcome