Even oceans apart, the call of summer seems the same. If you were to travel to South Africa during their summer season (which is in December, by the way), a familiar and comforting aroma permeates the air. It’s an aroma that would make even a South African walking their dog in their Orlando neighborhood suddenly stop and say, “That smells like home! Someone is cooking on a braai.”
The braai—pronounced bra-eye—is a grill in South Africa, where summertime is vacation time. It’s that time of year when all sorts of meats are cooked to perfection on the braai, and the aroma of steaks, chops, and boerewors (their delicious sausages) mingle with the scent of wood and charcoal.
When we were choosing our family vacation home in Cape Town, there were two main requirements: a pool and a braai. One of my fiancé’s sisters told us if there wasn’t a braai, then no deal. That is how important grilling is to a South African.
Here in America, we’re no different. When Memorial Day kicks off our summer, you can count on Americans to generally do one of two things (or both): get their boat out on the lake and fire up the grill.
For me, it’s that time of year when smoke off the grill and the aroma of cooking meats should waft throughout our neighborhoods. It’s when picnics in the park and float trips to a sandbar in the river only get better with a meal off a grill.
Much like gatherings around the kitchen table, the grill is the gathering place of summer. It’s there you’ll hear family stories (most of which you’ve heard before), the dads telling old jokes as the teenagers roll their eyes, and, most of all, you’ll hear the laughter.
When it comes to this time of year, I have moments where I’m a young boy again with my grandfather cranking the ice-cream maker, while one of my uncles flips burgers on the grill as the juice of a freshly cut watermelon drips down my face.
In summer, all my cousins and I would race back and forth dodging the tag in a game of run down or head off to explore the woods. It’s that time of year when we are, seemingly, the happiest and most joyful.
Summer is that time of year when we look for opportunities to start a fire in the grill. Even grilling by yourself can carry away the stresses of our jobs as the smoke gently swirls away.
It’s that time of year when we eat some of the best foods known to man right before we jump into the nearest pool of water. It’s also that time of year when we hear our mom’s voice echo through time, “You didn’t wait 30 minutes after you ate before you got in that water!”
Now is the time to enjoy the echoes, laughter, and aromas of a good summer. Now break out that grill. It’s that time of year!