Our Yuppiechef HQ boerie bar

We delved into an archive box the other day for the pure pleasure of reminiscing and found this photo of the entire Yuppiechef staff back in 2011 having themselves a good old boerie braai on a couch in our car park. Three years and almost 70 people later we can’t all squeeze on a couch but we certainly can revive an epic tradition, and that just in time for Braai Day.

At 4 on the dot last Friday afternoon, we wrapped up the day to attend a little gourmet boerie soirée at our new Cooking School kitchen, where we’ve been filming all our great online cooking courses. Since our HQ kitchen is reaching maximum capacity and our tiny balcony wouldn’t have handled all that beer and meat, we counted our lucky chickens to have another space to gather around for some great food and good company. Here are some tidbits we learnt from an afternoon braai for 80 people.

Some boerie braai organising tips when planning to feed the masses

• Pre-order your boerewors from your nearest and dearest meat merchant, you can even have them cut the boerie to size for you (we got ours from The Butcher Man in Seapoint).
• Phone your nearest supermarket or baker and pre-order fresh hotdog rolls.
• Make a variety of toppings, people have different preferences. (We went for a tomato salsa and a spicy guacamole.)
• But in the same breath, don’t get complicated, you are cooking for many, so simple helps you stay sane.
• Pre-cook your sausages in the oven for 10 minutes – that way the braaing goes quick sticks.
• Dice your onions and tomatoes in a food processor to save from hours of chopping.
• For soft drinks, estimate one 2L bottle for 5 people (for the ones not drinking beer, that is).
• For an easy marinade, a combo of coke, beer and chutney is always a win.
• Get yourself a braai buddy, turning those boeries is hard work.
• Rope in as many volunteers as you can – thanks to the awesome girls and Rob for helping out with this one.

Here’s wishing you always find the spirit to pull up those sleeves and organise a shindig, no matter how big your families may get. Why? Just because. It’s almost always worth it.

Check out more pics from our HQ braai.

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Happy Braai Day, folks.