Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Don’t braai for me, Argentina
THE Springboks will be powered by the smell of Heritage Day braaing when they kick off their rugby test match against Argentina today at 5pm.
Braai connoisseur Jan Scannell, who is widely known as Jan Braai, and his team are heading to the stadium, where they will cook up a storm over coals during the match. “It’s the word of nose campaign,” he said. The Argentinians can have braais of their own.
He gave special thanks to Eskom, saying since the start of September, it has consistently switched off the electricity to give people time to practice their braai skills in the run-up to Heritage Day.
Braai is an auditor who started the National Braai Day campaign in 2005 to build bridges between South Africans with the thing they all love to do, braai.
He said in the first two years, the campaign didn’t get much traction, but in 2007, he enlisted the support of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and suddenly he had the world’s attention. “That was life-changing. He had a good sense of humour, but he didn’t laugh the idea off,” said Braai.
They had a joint news conference about National Braai Day, which was attended by the world’s media, and he’s never looked back.
Six recipe books later and with the updated version of The Democratic Republic of Braai now on the shelves, he says the campaign has gone from strength to strength. In addition, he has a range of boerewors, braai sauces and braai equipment to his name.
He came up with the concept of National Braai Day so South Africans could have a day of celebration and talking while doing the one activity they all have in common, regardless of race, language, gender or wealth.
Braai said he “does not live under a rock” and knows not everyone is in favour of braai day. However, this has not deterred him because he said whatever you do, someone will be negative.
He said the difference between his idea and those of others was that he turned it into reality. Today, he has a thriving business which takes him all over the world, marketing the concept of braai day. He will be attending the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, next.
The updated edition of The Democratic Republic of Braai features a selection of new recipes and is more “sophisticated”, he said.