While SA’s favourite braai guru is traversing the country on his annual tour, we’re sitting at our desks paging through Jan Braai’s latest cookbook, which is filled (unsurprisingly) with fresh and exciting recipes to try at your braai get-togethers this summer. There’s one significant thing that sets it worlds apart from any of his previous books… the recipes don’t contain meat. Yip, Jan Braai has joined the plant-based movement, so vegetarians and veggie lovers, it’s time to light your braai fires!
We’re sharing three recipes from the book titled The Vegetarian Option.
Says Jan, “The original recipe will always be a crowd-pleaser and world-cup winner, but the new democratic South Africa found that there are many other fantastic ways to make braaibroodjies. This one is a celebration of the basic braaibroodjie’s core ingredient – cheese. The wider the variety of cheese, the better. For this recipe, I like to go with three types that are widely available, but if you have other types on hand in your fridge, by all means use those. Experiment and make this recipe your own!”
“Across the street from the National Braai Headquarters, there’s an Indian restaurant where my colleagues and I regularly have lunch (when we are actually in the office and not touring and braaing around the country). I fell in love with the bean-and-lentil curry at this restaurant we affectionately call our canteen as, frankly, it is delicious.”
“Sometime in the late 1970s, food guru Michael Olivier – who was responsible for the Boschendal Restaurant – asked his friend Maggie Pepler to come and teach them how to make the original malva pudding. Ever since, it’s been a permanent fixture on their buffet menu. My malva pudding recipe is based on that original recipe and is published with Michael’s blessing. The single biggest adjustment from the original recipe is that I bake the pudding in a no. 10 flat-bottomed baking potjie on the fire, and not in a conventional oven.”
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