Let's braai!

Celebrate Heritage Day on 24 September with this braai menu, which Platteland put together from Martelize Brink's recently published second cookbook, Oor die Kole.

- MARTELIZE BRINK

Menu

– STARTER –

• Ash bread and sheep’s tails – or – Skinless sausage

– MAIN DISH –

• Smoked brisket, served on angel buns – or/and – Lamb steaks with three sauces

• Braai salad

• Pearledwheat salad

– DESERT –

• Pastel de nata

Ash bread and sheep's tails

The humble sheep's tail eaten with ash bread is food fit for a king. While filming a documentary about this Khoekhoen baking method, I watched wide-eyed as my hostess placed dough directly on sand on which a fire had been made, and then covered it with river sand and placed more coals on top. Half an hour later she dug out a pair of beautiful loaves and used a stone to scrape off the sand. The deep flavour was unique and the whole ritual was almost spiritual. But you don't need to source river sand in order to bake your own ash bread. You simply need a few coals that have lost most of their heat. Make your dough 24 hours in advance, let it prove, and refrigerate it overnight. Take the dough out of the fridge 2 hours before you want to bake the bread so it can reach room temperature.

Makes 6 rolls

Preparation time 10 minutes (plus cooking time for the sheep's tails and proving time for the ash bread)

Cooking time 20-30 minutes

THIS IS HOW