My First Braai

Remember when I was so excited to experience my first braai?

Well, during our stay at Mossel Bay, I finally got my wish!

The braai we went to was prepared by the three South African members of the Pinnacle Point team ... and I think it's safe to say that they did their country proud!

Here's the braai master, Chris, a.k.a. "House"

Did I mention that braais are strictly done over wood fires?  The mention of charcoal -- or the worst blasphemy of all, gas-fired grills -- causes every South African I know to shudder in horror.  The results are flipping delicious!

 

They made pork chops, bacon-wrapped chicken skewers and broewurst, and there were delicious salads of all kinds ... as well as this:

Braai Bread!

SO GOOD.  I never would have thought that grilled bread would taste good -- but oh, ohhh, oooohhhh, good doesn't begin to describe it.  And because I couldn't have a lot of other things because of the IBS, I had 2 of these lush, soft, slightly smoky fluffy wonders of bready love.

Chantal was the one who made the bread (she was so busy running around all night that I never got a picture of her -- boo!) and she also made this:

 Pap-en-Sous, basically a corn meal mush with a thick tomato and onion gravy.

This is another South African staple I kept reading about and it took a moment to get used to.  The gravy was finger-licking delicious ... but the pap itself was different than I thought it would be.  I was expecting a texture more like polenta, but this was a bit dry and crumbly -- but that's how it's supposed to be.  Anyhoo, once you swathed it in gravy, it was scrumptious!

Beyond the food though, the atmosphere is what a braai is all about.  Lots of laughs, insane stories, a plentiful supply of wine ... and well ... I can't actually write about or post pictures of some of the things that went on that night.  Careers could be shattered ... I tell you, these archeologists play hard ...

All I'll say is that this individual (you'll notice he was lovingly wrapped in a blanket so the bathroom tiles wouldn't give him a chill) may or may not have woken up with "Thug Life" Sharpied on his stomach.  I'm just saying.

All in all, a perfect "first braai!"