(We mean braai with vegans, not braai the actual vegan.)
Story time.
My mom is an amazing cook, and an even better hostess. She is relaxed, attentive, organised and no amount of flopped soufflé or burnt pampoen-koekies will ever crack her calm hostess façade.
My mother the meat-eater.
She cooks wonderful meaty stews, piles of lamb shanks, pots of oxtail, rich meaty ragu’s for pasta’s, venison pies, stuffed bacon rolls, deboned chickens and rare steaks.
These days most people have met, know or even are plant-based life forms.
That was not the case a couple of years ago, when we were hosting a party for a family friend. The morning of the party the news reached my mom that there would be…VEGANS attending.
My mom read the message and looked up at me: “What even is a vegan!?”
I did my best to explain that they are perfectly normal humans who just chose to completely skip animal involvement in any product or food they use. No leather, no honey, no meat, no dairy.
She looked at me, barely hiding her disgust. We had a whole harvest table of food ready for the guests and while we had many delicious vegetarian options, everything on offer had either dairy, honey, or egg in it.
Celery to the rescue.
Unflappable as always, my mother headed to her kitchen. She meticulously cut thin celery and carrot sticks, stuck them into little glasses, added a splash of olive oil and black pepper, and put them on the table with a flourish.
“For the VEGANS” she said. But, and I think this was intentional, she pronounced “vegan” like “pagan”- clearly indicating her disgust for these absurd eaters…
This was then, now we have a new normal.
To my mother’s great horror, she now has some of these fussy folk in her own family. We can count 4 plant-based eaters our family (and yes, I am one of them)
Ever the perfect hostess, my mom has now adapted her offerings and we regularly have the best vegan friendly braai’s (and no, we don’t grill celery sticks).
Our favourite vegan braai offerings:
Grilled mushrooms.
The thing about a braai that’s done right is that it gets a smoky, umami flavour. We promise you that you can get the flavour and softness of a medium rare steak by grilling a large brown mushroom (or skewers of smaller mushrooms) that you have seasoned with garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Grilled leeks
A leek is a wonderful thing. They add an amazing depth of flavour to any dish, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be the main ingredient! Grilling them, and then eating them with lemon and olive oil is a wonderful way to celebrate this understated vegetable.
Veggie sosaties
These are a firm favourite, even among our most staunch meat eaters. The trick to these sosaties lies in the meticulous preparation of the veggies. Don’t just plonk giant chunks of vegetables onto a stick and think you’ll get flavour and variety out of them. Slice/cut your zucchini, peppers, onions, and any other veggie of your choice into thin slices, season every slice and then stack them loosely onto your skewer. This allows them to cook individually, and the flavour can permeate all the individual vegetables on your sosatie.
Add a green salad, a potato salad with vegan mayo, and a lekker sourdough loaf and you have a delicious, rich and meat free braai.
