There can be few aspects of modern social life that are more fraught with pitfalls than South African barbecue etiquette. The braai (to use the local word) is far from a modern invention of course, but to many South Africans, the territorial right of the alpha male to rule the fireside is as inviolable as ever.
Despite a childhood spent largely in rainy northern England, I’ve always enjoyed camping and gravitated early into a school of ‘bush tucker’ that often involved little more than a tin of steaming beans propped against a glowing log. Years later, in sunnier Spanish climes, I mastered the art of cooking a few low-key chargrilled specialties. Then, however, I fell in love with a woman who hails from a country where the humble braai has been elevated to the status almost of a national sport.
My South African
