I have the feeling that Braai season is almost here with summer just a stone throws away! For some, braai season runs all year round, but in my valley here in Southern Alberta, that earthy smell of BBQ in the air has returned. Shops are also starting to stock up on charcoal and firewood as people gear up for the camping season and standing ready to de-winterize their camping trailers. The Saffa shops start upping their supply of our favorites like biltong and droewors while we wish for a few bottles of klipdrift or a six pack Castle lager here in Canada. Lucky fish - you Saffas in the States being able to buy it there!
Whilst most of us South African expats have spend a good portion of our free time finding a satisfactory replacement for Richelieu and coke, Savanna dry or the strong taste of black label lager, I for one found any beer mixed with sprite makes it taste like a shandy. One sip and I’m back in the bushveld! Then you get that poor bloke who only ever mixed his brandewyn with oros who’ll never be satisfied again.
This time of year makes me feel like ‘that bloke’, missing the days where I would wind down after a scorching hot day of work and sit next to my fire with the smell of boerewors between every sip of my shandy. As I am writing this, a song is stuck in my head – “Please daddy won’t you take us to the rugby …. Please daddy wont you buy slap chips and chicken pie, coca cola, hoola hoops and nog nick naks! – Oh dear Leon Schuster, he knows how to set the mood at our Canadian braai’s!
Leon doesn’t have to be the only mood setter on your camping trip or weekend braai this year. Boabab can help with that too. From camping mugs (blikbekers) and protea tablecloths, why not go all the way to set the mood? So my message this week is dust off your braai’s, grab your wood or charcoal, wash those tongs and stock up on the accessories!
Remember it’s always Braai O’clock!