The December holidays are here and besides catering for your children and ensuring that they are well-entertained, you also have friends and family that could come visit anytime.
Inasmuch as this is sometimes an inconvenience, it is sometimes worth the struggle.
If there’s anything you don’t want to compromise on when you are hosting though is on food. In fact, food is the measure of your hosting skills and when your people stay hungry for too long, the level of enjoy plummets.
Even when you are ideally braaiing, you don’t want people waiting hours for the meat to be ready.
First things first, you want to add a festive touch to your braai setup, and it starts with the welcome snacks, preferably the new Simba steakhouse beef flavour to prepare the tastebuds for the meat.
Celebrity chef, Benny Masekwameng suggests having a mix of your guests’ favourites; a mix of sweet, savoury, sour, spicy and incorporating ingredients that are in season this summer.
Read More | Snoek with chilli basil butter and salsa
For guests who are vegetarians or who prefer plant-based food, he lists go-to ingredients to play around with.
- Grilled vegetables (eggplant, red onion, baby marrow, peppers and green beans) drizzled with sundried tomato and balsamic dressing.
- Tenderstem broccoli, heirloom baby carrots and corn on the cob basted with garlic, chilli flakes and butter.
What would a South African braai be without a traditional holiday side?
Many may have gotten over these sides, but Chef Benny assures that they are still safe to have this December and they are chakalaka, mealiepap, coleslaw and potato salad.
“You’ll never go wrong with these!"
Read More | Braaied salt steak with chakalaka and tomato relish
“Involve your friends, family and guests in the organizing of the event. Have them do different tasks and prepare some of the dishes/snacks for braai. Have a theme of some sort going with the clothes, colours and ingredients.”
When it comes to the braaiing, here are three tips to achieving the perfect braai flavour and tenderness.
- Your Braai Fire must be on point and ready by the time your guests arrive.
- Have your meat at room temperature and seasoned (preferably with dry spices) 30-45min before you braai.
- Baste your meat with your preferred basting sauce 5-7min before you remove it from the braai, and finally rest the meat for at least half the time it took to cook the meat.
