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# ‘BRAAI’ Weekend Nr 2 (while camping at Tietiesbaai)

Welcome to our 2nd edition of our ‘braai’ weekends … in case you’ve missed the first post, you can read about it here.

Just a reminder: “What is a braai”?

The word ‘braai’ is an Afrikaans word, meaning barbecue. This means you grill or roast (mostly) meat over the open coals – something South Africans love to do (especially over weekends).

We had a few opportunities this weekend to have our favourite braai sessions. It was Easter Weekend and a great time for us and a couple of friends to go on a camping trip … yes, again 😊.

We will first show you our beautiful camp site, before we get to the delicious food we prepared over the fire during the weekend.

Our camping spot at Tietiesbaai

Once again, we opted for a wild camping experience on the West Coast of South Africa. Our choice fell on Tietiesbaai, situated in the Cape Columbine Nature Reserve and just 37km (23 miles) from our home.

We had to remember to pack a very important item for our camping trip – matches to lit the fire. We have these two match boxes that always go to every camping trip …

Matches to start the fire: A map of Africa on the one and the other one – a well-known saying in South Africa (translated from Afrikaans) “We will braai IMMEDIATELY”

Our view was once again spectacular … right on the edge of the ocean! We spent many hours during the weekend, sitting next to the fire, to enjoy the beauty of nature.

Our breathtaking view
An important part of camping – fire to prepare food
Our campsite
We’ve seen beautiful sunrises

Now, let’s get to the food! It was the last weekend we could catch crayfish – the crayfish season are now closed until December (yes, it’s a LONG time).

The men braced the cold Atlantic Ocean and caught a couple of crayfish to enjoy next to our fire.

A big size crayfish
Crayfish, lemon and Sauvignon Blanc wine – perfect combination

For snacks in between, we had tasty boerewors. This is a type of sausage which originated in South Africa and is an important part of any South African braai. The name derived from the Afrikaans/Dutch words boer (“farmer”) and wors (“sausage”).

Boerewors on the fire

On the menu was hamburgers as well. Some people at the campsite preferred their patties on hamburger rolls and other’s like to have the patties on giant mushrooms.

To enjoy tasty mushrooms, we rubbed some olive oil on the outside of the mushrooms, add a few dollops of garlic & lemon butter to the inside and top it off with chilly cheddar cheese. After these melted on the fire, we add the patties on top of the mushrooms with a side salad consisting of green leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado and feta cheese.

Patties and giant mushrooms getting ready on the fire

On our last night, we decided to prepare a lamb potjie on the fire. This is a great South African dish, cooked on the fire in a cast iron potjie (descended from the Dutch oven brought from the Netherlands to South Africa in the 17th century).

We have a few pictures to show the different stages of this potjie:

Start your potjie with olive oil, onion and garlic
Add the meat (we’ve used lamb neck & knuckle)
Carrots & potatoes are placed on top of the meat
Oil & Spices: olive oil, black & white pepper, salt, crushed coriander seeds & whole cloves

Here’s a tip to enjoy a great potjie: Don’t be tempted to stir the ingredients too much while it’s cooking.

It’s time …
Yummy 😋

While preparing our potjie, we enjoyed the last sunset of our camping weekend.

A beautiful sunset to conclude our camping weekend

We hope you’ve enjoyed our traditional South African food experience while camping.

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wetanddustyroads

28 thoughts on “# ‘BRAAI’ Weekend Nr 2 (while camping at Tietiesbaai)”

  1. You are such talented barbecue cooks! It all looks so delicious. I’d never thought of replacing a bap (bread roll) with a flat mushroom for burgers but it seems a great idea which I’m going to try as soon as it’s warm enough to light our own grill! Bitter cold here today and needed gloves, hat and scarf to venture out for a brisk walk!

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    1. Thanks Angela – the food was indeed amazing!
      The green tent is our portable chemical toilet … there were no ablution facilities where we’ve camped – and if that is the case, we always bring our own toilet.

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    1. We were really fortunate to camp at such a stunning place! Diane, to be honest, we’ve never had lobster before … but I’ve read that crayfish taste similar to a combination of lobster, crab and shrimp (with more sweetness). Maybe one day, we’ll have the opportunity to taste lobster as well … then we’ll know 😉.

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  10. Your photos are wonderful! And all those pictures of food, reminds me of a recipe book. But you bring the reader right into the typical South African setting. Thank you for another awesome post. 🌷🌷

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  11. Cooking on fire in a setting like that, it really doesn’t get much better. You good people really have some lifestyle and those crayfish are easily as big as most lobsters I have seen, they are monsters! Another great post.

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    1. Thank you – much appreciated 😊. We love the sea – the beauty never gets old or boring! And to eat crayfish (which our guys caught themselves) next to the sea, is the cherry on the cake … it taste better than in a restaurant (oh yes, and it’s definitely cheaper 👍🏻).

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