Riffel’s love for bold flavours shines through, with a punchy Korean sauce in one recipe, Middle Eastern spices in another, and a new take on a classic South African braai stalwart in the next… who says you can’t get creative with a braaibroodjie?
South African celebrity chef, Franschhoek-born Reuben Riffel, is happiest when he’s cooking over a fire with family and friends. His fifth book Braai (released this September in time for Heritage Day) brings together 70 of his favourite fire-cooking recipes and shares his secrets of how to get to flavour quicker, without the fuss.
“This book is about flavours first, the simplicity of cooking over fire,” says Riffel. “It’s not about how to braai, the technical stuff… Rather just to share my enjoyment of cooking, and to encourage you to play and experiment with cooking over fire. You don’t have to be an expert braai master and slave over hot coals for hours. I like to see a fire as an extension of the kitchen, using the same spices and flavourings that I enjoy cooking with inside, but cooking over a fire for the extra flavour and a touch of smoke.”
Within the beautifully photographed pages – each recipe gets a mouthwatering full-colour image – you’ll find tried and tested recipes that range from very simple to more creative.
Riffel’s love for bold flavours shines through, with a punchy Korean sauce in one recipe, Middle Eastern spices in another, and a new take on a classic South African braai stalwart in the next… who says you can’t get creative with a braaibroodjie?
The dishes range from different meats and seafoods to vegetables and salads, with a good helping of quick and easy snacks to keep everyone happy kuiering around the fire while you cook the main event. Then, to round things off, some decadent fire-kissed desserts.
“Cooking over fire makes us kind of feel connected, the smell of it, when you walk by somebody’s house where they’ve got a fire going, it gives you holiday or weekend vibes, it boosts you a little bit, in anticipation of relaxation and downtime, and a good cocktail just adds to that vibe,” says Riffel.
In Braai, Riffel offers quick and easy recipes that he likes to cook for the family on weekday nights – “it’s often just as easy to light a fire as it is to heat up the stove,” he says – and simple but delicious recipes to create a sense of occasion when you have friends over on the weekend.
He shares his love of cooking whole prawns, octopus and even fish heads … and will light up the fire for his delicious corn and potato quesadillas just as often as for a butterflied lamb shoulder or a spatchcocked and brined peri-peri chicken.
A delightful and appetising read from cover to cover, this book comes with only one warning: you will come away hungry and craving the smoky, lightly charred flavours of a braai. So have the braai wood stacked, tongs at the ready and pantry well stocked, so you can dig into the flavours off the plate, as well as on the page.
Braai will be available at all good bookshops and online from the first week in September.
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