Happy Africa Day!! This day falls on America's Memorial Day, so I get the good luck of having two great reasons to celebrate! And speaking of celebrating... experiencing some beautiful weather today as we celebrate has put me in the mood for one of the most popular southern African past times one can find... the braai. In South Africa and Zim, the word braai is one of the most beloved words in existence. As both a verb and a noun, braai refers to the act of grilling meat outside. And boy, is it an act.
Learning to braai is a right of passage for the upper classes of southern Africa; when we had asked contacts in Zim about what to move with us to the continent the first piece of advice was to go out and buy the best grill possible. Any get-together that does not involve tea seems to involve alcohol and braaing meat in a situation in which the words "lean" and "still hungry" have no meaning.
Many of the Shona we met were fascinated with this style of cooking raw meat over the fire's heat in the way that we do, either on a grate or in foil. My housekeeper was fairly horrified -even when it was just in the oven or on the stovetop- as one of the first rules of cooking in her village was to never eat meat that was not boiled first. I am sure this was a lesson that proved very important for sanitary purposes, but was difficult to get out of her entrenched view despite our refrigeration and washing methods. We had a number of Harare Shona ask us to teach them how to cook meat over a fire, and I have to be honest- we were surprised! Though fires are used all the time for a variety of foods, including meat, the formal act of braaing was seen by many of the economically challenged Zimbabweans we met (not trying to overgeneralize here- I'm sure some people don't fall into this category) as being something fancy that was done by upper classes. Huh, who knew!
Many of the meats used in southern African braais come already seasoned and spiced from the local butcher. That can be hard to replicate from other parts of the world. But other meats, like sirloin steaks, come undressed and begging for a little tropical taste. Here is one of my favorite braai recipes, excellent for plain steaks or chicken breasts alike. It combines the tropical heat of a spicy rub with some sweet pineapple juice perfect for tenderizing. In celebration of the holiday, I invite you to bring a little Zimbabwe to your plate!
It takes a little ahead-of-time preparation, but it is well worth it...
Cheri's Tropical Heat Meat, Zim Style
4 plain chicken breasts or steaks
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1/8 cup brown sugar (Don't want refined sugar?? Try 1/8 cup maple syrup instead!)
1 1/2 tablespoons cayenne pepper (Don't like spice?? Replace this with 2 tablespoons of paprika!)
1 teaspoon oregano
Salt & pepper (I'd say "to taste," but you don't want to taste at this step! I use 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1. Stab the meat with a fork and drizzle half of the juice over it; let it sit for twenty minutes. Flip the meat over and drizzle the other half of the juice on the second side; allow it to sit for twenty minutes also. This adds sweetness, but also tenderizes the meat.
2. Throw away any extra juice run-off. Mix all of the remaining ingredients in a bowl and then put into a plastic zip bag with the meat. Make sure to squish the meat around in the bag, getting all sides covered with the rub. Allow this to sit in the bag in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours... Or even overnight if you like!
3. Cook the meat over the a grill the same way you would grill any other meat. Make sure to cook the meat properly and thoroughly. There may be some juice left in the bag after the meat has been removed. You can baste or pour this on the meat during the last half of cooking to add some extra flavor. Enjoy!!
