Jake was wrong after-all. Schalk is wearing Springbok colours.

Also in attendance was model Minki van der Westhuyzen, who confirmed that she maintains her figure by eating nothing but braai; on holiday in London, she was quite happy to drop in on Ethienne’s house for an afternoon round the fire. Saracens braais are regular features of life in London for the rugby stars, but this Sunday’s was one of the best: great meat from the Earlsfield market, good weather for London in September, and a group of mates enjoying the simplest of South African pleasures.

Jan had to significantly lower his standards, and braai some vegetables for Minki.

There were lowlights: Deon Carsten’s karaoke wasn’t quite in the Toks van der Linde class, and Brad Barritt’s insistence on playing Justin Bieber was a little worrying. But with bowls of pap accompanying some great rump, and Schalk Brits joining us later in the day armed with his usual beaming smile (he’d had to open a shopping centre earlier in the day, and had been swamped by fans for photos and autographs), it was a great South African day in London – and a precursor of the braai that Saracens will be having on September 24 in celebration of National Braai Day.

Saracens Squad delighted to meet up with their idols, Jan Braai and Dan Nicholl.

Braai4Heritage features in gay newspaper Pink Tongue.

If you cannot read the article, it is essentially a reprint of the Braai4Heritage vision, which you can read here. You will notice that there is not only the text, but also some photos, and another supporting article about Spitbraai. There is even an advertisement about beef.

Thanks Martin

Jan and Dan. Spreading the braaiday message from the Southern tip of Africa all the way to London

The sheer number of South Africans in London (Afrikaans is the third most spoken language in the city, apparently, after Urdu and Polish…) makes for an array of South African stores; it also makes for myriad South African restaurants, of which Shaka Zulu is the latest. A vast, upmarket venue that’s restaurant, bar, club and temple to South African indulgence rolled into one, it’s exactly the sort of place King Shaka would have approved of had he pitched up in London in 2010. Which is just as well, ‘cos that’s where we’re headed this Saturday.

Shaka Zulu will be firing up the braais from mid-morning, and by the time 12 o’clock comes round, the doors will be open, meat will be cooking, and the beer will be particularly cold. All that’s needed, then, is a horde of hungry, thirsty South Africans, looking to celebrate our London warm-up for National Braai Day, and watch the Springboks thump the Wallabies in the Tri-Nations later in the day on Shaka Zulu’s big screens. A mere £20 gets you the braai buffet (the sight of the menu reduced Jan to tears), the beer will be particularly inexpensive, and the gees proudly South African all day. It’s no wonder that Jan Braai are very much excited.

• When: Saturday 4 September
• Time: 12pm (Springbok victory begins at 4pm)
• Where: Shaka Zulu, Chalk Farm Road, Camden
• Cost: £20 for braai buffet (boerewors & chutney, chicken sosaties, lamb chops, rump steak with beer braaivleis basting sauce, hot cheese & potato salad, green leaf salad & mustard dressing, grilled corn, koeksisters)
• Google map directions: click here
• Tube station: Camden

As much braaied meat as you can eat. This Saturday in London.

From 12:00 on Saturday 4 September there will be a braai at Shaka Zulu restaurant in Camden. For 20 pounds you can eat as much braaivleis* as you want. And they will have beers on special as well. There will also be a big screen showing how the Springboks “pleiser die Wallabies”. (In the words of Francois Hougaard). If you are a South African, and you are in London, please come and join us. If you are not a South African, but always wished you were, come and join us as well, and pretend you are.

If you are on Facebook, you can join the event page of this braai, and help us invite the other South Africans in London as well.

*Update. Shaka Zulu emailed us the final menu for the braai buffet on Saturday: Boerewors & chutney; Chicken Sosaties; Lamb chops; Rump steak with beer braaivleis basting sauce; Hot cheese & potato salad; Green leaf salad & mustard dressing; Grilled corn; Koeksisters

• If you have friends, tell them about it, and organise a braai for all of them on 24 September.
• If you have a blog, write about it, and encourage your readers to braai on 24 September.
• If you are on Facebook, become a fan of our Facebook page, and invite all your Facebook friends to be fans as well (this is a really stupid and obvious, but amazingly effective way in which to help).
• If you are on Twitter, re-tweet my braaiday propaganda.
• If you are a journalist, write an article about braaiday, preferably on the front page.
• If you are a radio DJ, talk about braaiday on air with your listeners.
• If you are a TV presenter, just mention it. Somewhere in your program, with a call to action.

None of the above is rocket science, and none of the above will cost you a cent. You do not need to donate money, you do not need to go to lectures, you do not need to stand in queues. To help us is easy, and free. And to take part in braaiday is even easier. All you need to do is have fun on 24 September. Simple as that.

Who will they love more? Mother that makes them bath or father that gives them this?

• Handmade beef mince patties.
• Topped with cheddar cheese.
• Wrapped in a bacon weave.
• Add cut viennas as the heads, legs and tail.
• Bake in Man Oven* for 20 – 30 minutes.

* If you dont know what a Man Oven is, take this link.

Thank you Tobias

JP Duminy saying "I like it!" when confronted with rump steak.

The picture explains quite graphically just how well the seared rump steak with garlic butter is being appreciated; what it doesn’t show is the boerewors (from a confidential source) and lamb chops that disappeared moments later, JP assuring us that garlic butter rump steak was crucial to mastering the cover drive, and formed part of Brian Lara’s daily diet. It might just become part of the Springbok diet as well, JP having spread the gospel of Jan Braai’s magic to his mate Bryan Habana; and it could also become a feature of team dinners for the Mumbai Indians…

…because rumour has that, on JP’s advice, the IPL team is tabling a big money bid for Jan Braai to come on board as team chef. That would all but seal victory for the team in the Airtel T20 Champions League, not to mention keeping a precociously talented left-hander extremely happy. The pay-off line for the cricket tournament is a simple ‘I like it!’; if you spot Jan in a Mumbai jersey any time soon, you know the deal’s been signed, with ‘I like it’ the team’s new catchphrase every time the fire is lit for dinner. All just rumour, of course, particularly when you factor in Jan Braai’s three favourite cricketers: Roger Federer, Ernie Els and Wayne Rooney. JP, you’ve got some work to do.

The Italians are famous (and rightly so) for many things. Building majestic sportscars. Successfully pulling of clothing several sizes to small. Playing football (the recent World Cup not included). Fitting people with concrete shoes and taking them swimming. It’s a long and admirable list, but one particular trait would not appear to be amongst them: the art of braaing.

South Africa's Ant & Dec. Also known as "The original Grant and Anele".

Sasha Martinengo is an institution on South African radio, patrolling the airwaves of 5FM with a winning blend of great music, an inherent sense of fun, and a love of Formula 1 that goes well beyond obsessive – and which has him at the helm of SuperSport’s F1 broadcasts. In between that, he DJs half a dozen gigs a week, jets off around the world to watch Grand Prix, and is single-handedly responsible for 18% of South Africa’s Twitter traffic. And occasionally, he tries to burn his house down. Sasha very kindly had Jan Braai and myself round to his suburban palace for a braai a few weeks back, and also dragged out his old partner in crime, Ian F (the old Ant and Dec of local prime time radio), undersized sports writer Kevin McCallum, who turns up wherever free beer and food are to be had, and Mrs. Martinengo, who, it turns out, is the spiky haired half of Swedish rockstars Roxette, now living in Johannesburg and married to the local doyen of radio. How does one greet Mrs. Martinengo, then? “How do you do, do you do…”

Where there's smoke there's not necessarily fire.

While Paula politely dealt with a string of awful Roxette jokes, Sasha got down to the art of braaing Italian style, which seemed to be based on recreating the skies above Iceland during the volcanic eruption (see picture for confirmation). But as everyone else retreated inside to cold beer, and Sasha’s new television (which is approximately the same size as Malawi), the Italian reined in his furnace, loaded up his meat, and in under an hour, one very happy group of braai afficionados had confirmation that’s it not just pasta the Italians have mastered. But I’m still not buying Sasha’s story that as a superstar DJ, he had to start his braai in something resembling dry ice.

Desmond Tutu and Jan Braai sharing their vision of uniting a nation around braai fires with the international media

Tutu is the patron of the “Braai for Heritage” campaign which is celebrated on September 24, an official public holiday to mark the nation’s multi-cultural heritage after the fall of apartheid in 1994. The archbishop emeritus said the fireplace was a traditional gathering place in Africa and that anything from meat to vegetables could be put on a braai, a pastime enjoyed by South Africans of all races. ”We want to continue that tradition of all of us gathering on September 24, braaing for our heritage,” he said. ”The important thing is all of us on that one day again getting together and just enjoying the fact of being South Africans.”

Mainstream media reporting on the Braai4Heritage campaign.

The 78-year-old, affectionately known as “the Arch” will retire from public life on his birthday next month after years of speaking out against apartheid’s white minority rule and injustices around the world. He will remain the patron of the braai campaign, which he joined in 2007. ”You can resign from an office job but you can never resign from being a braaier,” the campaign’s Jan Scannell told him in front of a banner featuring a large t-bone steak in the shape of Africa.

Source – News24