American baby back ribs

Barbecue: A Celebration of Smoked Meats

Barbecue is more than a meal- It’s an event. People gather for good barbecue, whether invited or not. Barbecue is an event that gathers people around a fire. Like the fires of prehistory, this is the setting to eat, drink and tell stories.

Smoking has been used as a way of preserving and flavoring food for thousands of years. Soon after the discovery of fire, man found that meats and fish exposed to smoke lasted much longer before spoiling. In many cuisines around the world, smoking meats and fish became a yearly ritual, especially in autumn, to provide protein over the winter when hunting became less fruitful. The annual celebrations that surrounded these events morphed over time to become an excuse for family and friends to gather. The introduction of refrigeration and spices over the last 500 years has helped make smoking meats a ritualistic culinary art form that celebrates community rather than just a method of preservation and survival.

Three different countries have taken BBQ to whole other level that has become, in many ways, part of their national identities. Experience the amazing recipes and stories that have made each of these countries approach to BBQ do special.

AMERICAN BARBECUE

Almost every state and region in the United States has its own style of barbecue, each with its own cuts of meat based on what were readily available. Using a backyard grill at home is a wonderful American tradition utilized as a way for family and friends to gather for an afternoon to eat hot dogs and hamburgers. A true American barbecue is usually a day-long event that celebrates the smoked foods and cooking rituals.

ZZZ

SOUTH AFRICAN BRAAI

The word braaivleis is Afrikaans for “smoked meat”. The word braai is Afrikaans for “barbecue” or “grill”, and is a social custom in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

ZZZ

ARGENTINIAN ASADO

In South America, asado is a technique for cooking cuts of meat, usually consisting of beef alongside various other meats, which are cooked on a grill (parrilla) or open fire. It is considered the traditional meal of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and southern Brazil. The asado is a very traditional way of cooking that typically requires the great skills of an asador. The gathering of family and friends is critical to a successful asado.

zzzzz

SHOP FOR BBQ INGREDIENTS + EQUIPMENT:

Meat: www.wildfork.com

Supplies: BBQ Pro Shop

Supplies: www.atbbq.com

Supplies: Amazon.com : bbq 

flat screen television

An International Gameday Party

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, my Hungry Traveler is thinking about feasting BIG TIME.  Events like these are perfect for gathering with friends and family for a celebratory meal. They offer a great reason to eat, drink, and, watch commercials (if that is why you’re tuning in). Use this upcoming game day party as an opportunity to mix it up with your party food options….

My Hungry Traveler has put together game day menu suggestions for you with party foods from America, Europe, and Asia. You can make some-or-all of each region’s menu, or have fun doing a mashup from them all. The key is to make as much as you can in advance so you can spend time with your guests instead of cooking in the kitchen. Buying vs. cooking from scratch some of the “lesser” sides, such as potato and corn chips, will make things easier as well. Let the games begin!

Pregame

Pregame is all about spending time chatting with each other before the game begins. The food should be casual so guests can all talk with each other while munching. Put everything out at once just before guests arrive.

Americas Europe Asia
Potato chips (buy) with onion soup dip (buy)Danish sesame seed twistsChinese candied walnuts
Tex-Mex shrimp quesadillas Swedish shrimp toastsSingapore shrimp sate
Corn chips (buy) with salsa Portuguese olive dip with vegetables Chinese fried wonton chips with sweet & sour dip (buy)
Cuisine
Keywords
Difficulty
Search

Search all Recipes 

First Half

First Half is a great time for munching on appetizers while yelling at the TV (if that’s your thing). The Olympics have a short viewing duration each night, so it’s best to serve dishes from either the First Half or Halftime menus, or combine them to create a single “food event”. The Super Bowl is a much longer event, so MHT recommends serving the First Half dishes and the Halftime dishes separately.

Americas Europe Asia
Buffalo chicken wingsPortuguese chicken bitesKorean chicken wings
Pigs in a blanketBritish stilton & walnut pinwheelsThai galloping horses
Tlayudas (Mexican pizza)French anchovy & olive flatbreadChinese scallion pancakes
Baked empanadasPolish pierogi Chinese pan-fried dumplings
Crawfish MonicaAustrian Alpine cheese noodlesChinese dan-dan noodles
Cuisine
Keywords
Difficulty
Search

Search all Recipes 

Halftime

Halftime – As if the munching and small dishes of incredible food early in the evening isn’t enough, Super Bowl halftime is a time to take it up a level. This orchestrated break is the perfect time to put out a full meal hot foods and sides that have been prepared in advance. The key here to serving so many items at once is to keep warm foods warm through the first half of the game in heated vessels such as crockpots and your oven on low, and to remove cold dishes from the refrigerator right before serving. Plates can be assembled by your guests at a buffet-style table and brought back to their seats in time to catch all the halftime festivities.

Americas Europe Asia
Cincinnati chili (5 ways)Belgian Beef CarbonnadeIndonesian beef rendang
SpaghettiButtered egg noodlesJasmine rice
Tidewater coleslawGreek cabbage saladKorean kimchi
Fire and ice picklesDanish cucumber saladThai cucumber salad
Collard greensSpanish spinach with pine nutsJapanese spinach salad
Cuisine
Keywords
Difficulty
Search

Search all Recipes 

Second Half

Second Half – Once all the serious eating is over, leaving out sweets for folks to eat at their leisure is a great way to finish the culinary games. Decaffeinated or regular coffee is a nice digestive accompaniment to end this major feasting event. Who won? Who knows! All we know is that your event will be a dining event your guests won’t forget.

Americas Europe Asia
Pecan pieAustrian Linzer torteKorean hotteok pancakes
Chocolate chip cookiesRugelachChinese almond cookies
Banana puddingItalian zuppa IngleseIndian instant pot kheer
Cuisine
Keywords
Difficulty
Search

Search all Recipes 

South African Braai

A South African Braai

“Ons gaan nou braai!” – Afrikaner saying

It means “a braai is not a barbecue”. Braai (bray), is a South African cultural institution. Like the Argentinean asada, American backyard cookout, or Korean gogigui, it is built on community than just an outdoor cookout.

What makes braai so special is that it is all about bringing good friends and family together around a shared celebration. There is always some excuse for holding a braai, whether it’s to celebrate a wedding, birth or death, or just because. Everyone brings meats and sides to share, called “Bring & Braai”, it’s basically the same idea as the North American Potluck.

Meats include beef boerewors and pork sausages, kebabs, chicken and steak with fish and other seafood added on the coasts. Must-have sides include pap (cornmeal porridge), Mieliepap terts (corn-bacon & mushroom pie), garlic bread or braaibroodjies (grilled cheese, tomato and chutney sandwiches), and, of course, chakalaka.

To understand how important braai is to the nation, consider this; it even has its own national holiday dedicated to it on the 24th of September called National Braai Day.

It all started by the Voortrekkers (Afrikaans for “pioneers”), disgruntled Afrikaner farmers descended from the original settlers working for the Dutch East India Company. Unhappy with many aspects of British colonial rule, they migrated east from the then-British occupied Cape Colony off the coast of South Africa in the 1830-40s. They travelled with ox-drawn wagons and horses, which meant they had to pack light. To survive, the nomad farmers had to hunt, shoot, and roast meat on open fires in the open air, and so the culture of braaing (derived from the Dutch word for roast, “braden”) was born. The Bantu peoples who lived in these parts of South Africa at the time had also developed an appreciation for grilled meat. Where cattle were mainly used for the production of milk, they preferred to roast mutton, goat, or game. Another important protein supply were grilled insects such as caterpillars, locusts, and termites. Today, standing around a fire and preparing grilled meat (no insects) is a unifying tradition of South African enjoyed by people across different ethnic backgrounds. Even when you invite friends over for beers, a braai is likely to break out. A basic braai menu might look like this:

SAMPLE SOUTH AFRICAN BRAAI MENU

Pregame

Fire-Baked Dukkah Oysters (grilled oysters)

Broodjie (grilled meat/cheese sandwich)  

Salad

The Heritage Salad (Date, spinach & biltong)

Chakalaka (hot vegetables)

Meats

Boerewors (traditional beef sausage)

Beef Short Ribs (glazed in Coke BBQ sauce)

Sosatie- (curried Lamb and apricot skewers)

Piri-Piri Butterflied Chicken (butterflied chicken in hot sauce) 

Bunny Chow (Curried Pork in hollowed-out Bread Loaf)

Sides

Monkey Gland Sauce (tomato-chutney sauce)

Mieliepap Tert – (Cheesy Cornmeal Pie with bacon & mushrooms)

Mielie (grilled corn on the cob)

Dessert

Melktert (milk tart)

Malva Pudding (warm cream soaked pastry)