braai

A braai is a South African barbecue: the grill, the meat cooked on it, and the whole social gathering around it. To braai is to cook over an open fire.

What braai means

Calling a braai a barbecue is close, but South Africans will tell you it isn’t quite the same thing. A braai is a social occasion first. Friends and family gather at someone’s house or a picnic spot, everyone brings their own meat or a side dish, and the fire (wood or charcoal, for the purists) takes as long as it takes. Nobody is in a hurry.

Typical braai food includes boerewors (a coiled farmer’s sausage), sosaties (kebabs), marinated chicken and lamb chops. A portable grill is a braai stand, and gas braais have become common alongside wood and charcoal ones.

Examples

• “Come over Saturday, we’re having a braai.”
• “He braais every Sunday, rain or shine.”
• “Who’s in charge of the braai? The fire’s been going for an hour.”

Where it came from

Braai is short for the Afrikaans braaivleis, “grilled meat” (vleis is Afrikaans for meat, a cousin of the English word flesh). The word started with Afrikaners but has been adopted by South Africans of many backgrounds, and it works as a noun, a verb and an adjective.

Many South Africans mark Heritage Day, September 24, with a braai, which says a lot about how central it is.

Related terms

• Lekker: what a good braai is.
• Howzit: how you greet people when you arrive.
• Brekkie: breakfast, Australian style.
• Bakkie: the pickup truck that carries the braai gear.

More South African words are in our South African slang guide.