The words

Say it a-ma-gwi-nja

Literally the same pastry as vetkoek

What vetkoek is called in the townships, sold at street stalls in the morning — usually with just sugar.

Turns up at Vetkoek with curried mince · Shisa nyama

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Say it ba-ki

Literally little bowl — and the pick-up truck

Both. In the kitchen a bowl, outside the pick-up with the wood on the back.

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Say it be-skeut

Literally rusk

Twice-baked and therefore good for months. Not a pastry but a way of keeping bread.

Turns up at Buttermilk rusks

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Say it bil-tong

Literally rump tongue — from bil (rump) and tong (tongue, here: strip)

Air-dried meat with vinegar, salt and coriander. Not jerky: never heated.

Turns up at Biltong · Biltong

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Say it ba-buu-ti

Literally origin disputed; related to Indonesian bobotok

A spiced mince bake under an egg custard. The dish you explain Cape Malay cooking with.

Turns up at Bobotie · Cape Malay

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Say it buu-re-worss

Literally farmer’s sausage

A false friend if you translate it: a German Bauernwurst is scalded and fine, boerewors is coarsely cut and raw.

Turns up at Boerewors

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Say it buu-ri roll

Literally wors in a roll

With fried onions and monkey gland sauce. The standard food at sports fields and fundraisers.

Turns up at Boerewors · Monkey gland sauce

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Say it brei (wie „Brei“, mit rollendem r)

Literally to roast

The word is verb, appliance and occasion at once: you braai, you stand at the braai, and you are invited to a braai.

Turns up at Braai

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Say it wie englisch

Literally braai day

24 September. Officially it is Heritage Day; both names are in use, and the argument about that is real.

Turns up at History · Culture

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Say it wie englisch

Literally braai pack

A mixed pack of meat, three to five kilos. It holds cuts with very different cooking times — sort it before anything goes on.

Turns up at Braai pack

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Say it brei-bruu-ki

Literally braai sandwich

A toasted sandwich in a hinged grid with cheese, onion, tomato and chutney. Without chutney it is just toast.

Turns up at Braaibroodjies

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Say it brei-sout

Literally braai salt

A ready blend of coarse salt, coriander, paprika and garlic. Every family holds theirs to be the correct one.

Turns up at Braaisout / braai salt · T-bone with braai salt

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Say it brei-flejs

Literally braai meat

The meat that goes on the fire — and in older usage the whole event.

Turns up at Meat glossary

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Say it brii-di

Literally stew

A slow stew named after the vegetable in it — tamatiebredie, waterblommetjiebredie.

Turns up at Waterblommetjiebredie · Cape Malay

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Say it wie englisch

Literally bring and braai

The invitation where you bring your own meat. The host makes the fire.

Turns up at Planner

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Say it ba-ni tschau

Literally probably from bania (merchant caste) and chow (food)

Curry in a hollowed loaf. It comes from Durban and has nothing to do with rabbits.

Turns up at Bunny chow · Indian Durban

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Say it tscha-ka-la-ka

Literally onomatopoeic — no settled derivation

A hot vegetable relish built from tins. Stands next to the pap at every braai.

Turns up at Chakalaka · Chakalaka

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Say it dopp

Literally tot

A drink, usually an alcoholic one. Dop en tjop is the whole evening in two words.

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Say it druu-e-worss

Literally dry sausage

Boerewors without fire: filled thin and air-dried, so it dries through fast enough.

Turns up at Droëwors

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Say it eisch

Literally an exclamation with no translation

From the Nguni languages into South African English. Regret, surprise or resignation, depending on the tone.

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Say it fri-ka-del

Literally meatball

Beef, bread soaked in milk, baked in the oven rather than fried in a pan.

Turns up at Frikkadelle

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Say it wie englisch

Literally after the novel, with no further connection

A long roll with chips and filling, invented in Athlone in 1976. Shared between four.

Turns up at Gatsby

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Say it hout (wie englisch „out“)

Literally wood

On the shelf braaihout is braai wood and kaggelhout is fireplace wood. The difference is not a nicety.

Turns up at Wood · Where to buy

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Say it hau-sit

Literally how is it

A greeting, not a question. No answer is expected.

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Say it i-mi-fi-no

Literally wild leafy greens

A collective term for foraged leafy greens, usually amaranth. In Sesotho and Setswana the same thing is morogo. Boiled and eaten with pap.

Turns up at Pap — stywe pap and krummelpap · Umngqusho

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Say it i-nja-ma

Literally meat

The isiXhosa form of nyama. Both words appear on butcheries across the country.

Turns up at Shisa nyama · Meat glossary

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Say it i-si-tam-bu

Literally samp and beans

The isiZulu name for umngqusho. Same dish, different language area.

Turns up at Umngqusho

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Say it joll

Literally party, fun

Verb and noun alike: dit was ’n lekker jol.

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Say it wie englisch

Literally in a while

Some time later today. Plan a fire around it and you eat late.

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Say it ka-chel

Literally fireplace

The fireplace indoors. Kaggelhout is the label on the bag you look for in winter.

Turns up at Fireplace · Kaggelhout

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Say it ka-si

Literally short for lokasie — township

Kasi culture is the everyday culture of the townships, and shisa nyama is part of it.

Turns up at Shisa nyama

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Say it ke-ri

Literally curry

The word travelled from Durban to the Cape and now stands in every Afrikaans kitchen.

Turns up at Three-colour curry pasta salad · Rajah curry powder

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Say it kuk-sis-ter

Literally probably from koek (cake) and sissen, the hiss in hot fat

Plaited dough, deep-fried and dipped in ice-cold syrup. The Afrikaans version.

Turns up at Koeksisters

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Say it ku-sis-ter

Literally the Cape Malay relative

Round rather than plaited, yeasted and spiced, then rolled in coconut. A different pastry with almost the same name.

Turns up at Cape Malay · Koeksisters

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Say it kuu-le

Literally coals

Means the burnt-down wood coals, not charcoal out of a bag.

Turns up at Braai · The hand-over-grid test

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Say it kreef

Literally rock lobster

West Coast rock lobster. For recreational fishers only on officially released days and with a permit.

Turns up at Season

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Say it kru-mel-papp

Literally crumb porridge

The crumbly version eaten at a braai. You do not stir it, you fluff it with a fork.

Turns up at Pap — stywe pap and krummelpap

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Say it keu-er

Literally to visit and spend time doing it

There is no single English word. We kuier means we are sitting together and nobody plans to leave.

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Say it le-ker

Literally tasty

Long since not only about food: an evening is lekker, a car is lekker, a fire is lekker.

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Say it mal-fa-puu-ding

Literally malva pudding

A warm cake with apricot jam and vinegar in the batter, soaked with a cream syrup after baking.

Turns up at Malva pudding

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Say it melk-tert

Literally milk tart

A lot of milk, little egg, cinnamon on top. Out of the seventeenth-century Cape Dutch kitchen.

Turns up at Melktert

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Say it mii-li

Literally maize — via Portuguese milho

Mielies are the cobs, mieliemeel the meal for pap. At the roadside the cobs go straight into the coals.

Turns up at Mielies off the fire · Mielie meal

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Say it net-fet

Literally caul fat

The fatty membrane around the offal. Holds skilpadjies together and melts away as they cook.

Turns up at Netvet / caul fat · Skilpadjies

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Say it noh-noh

Literally now-now

Soon, but not immediately. Now-now in South African English is the same — and just now is later still.

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Say it nja-ma

Literally meat

In isiXhosa inyama. The word is on every second butchery in the country.

Turns up at Shisa nyama

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Say it uum / ta-ni

Literally uncle / aunt

A polite form of address for older people, related or not. At a fire it is the rule rather than the exception.

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Say it pad-koss

Literally road food

What gets packed for the drive. Biltong and beskuit are the classics.

Turns up at Biltong · Buttermilk rusks

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Say it pam-pun

Literally pumpkin

Inside pampoenkoekies, the little pumpkin fritters that sit next to the roast at Christmas.

Turns up at Pampoenkoekies

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Say it papp

Literally porridge

Maize porridge, the country’s staple. From Dutch — the same root as the English word pap.

Turns up at Pap — stywe pap and krummelpap

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Say it pe-ri pe-ri

Literally Swahili piri-piri — pepper-pepper

The small bird’s eye chilli and the sauce made from it. Peri in South Africa, piri in Portugal.

Turns up at Peri-peri chicken · Portuguese-Mozambican

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Say it pot-bruut

Literally pot bread

Bread from the cast-iron pot with coals on the lid. The answer to a household with no oven.

Turns up at Potbrood

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Say it poi-ki

Literally little pot

The three-legged cast-iron pot. The diminutive is misleading: a No. 3 holds nearly eight litres.

Turns up at Potjie · Potjiekos

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Say it poi-ki-koss

Literally pot food

The dish out of the three-legged pot — and the afternoon that goes with it.

Turns up at Lamb potjiekos · Potjiekos

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Say it wie englisch

Literally slices

At the Cape: pork belly cut a good centimetre and a half thick, not breakfast bacon.

Turns up at Rashers · Pork belly rashers

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Say it ri-be-ki

Literally little rib

Covers lamb and pork ribs alike. Which one it is comes from the counter, not the word.

Turns up at Ribbetjies

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Say it ruu-ster

Literally grid

The grate over the coals. It is also inside roosterkoek — the bread baked on it.

Turns up at Grid

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Say it ruu-ster-kuk

Literally grid cake

A roll baked straight on the grid. Goes on the coals that are dropping off, never on full heat.

Turns up at Roosterkoek

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Say it sche-ba

Literally tomato and onion sauce

The sauce that turns pap into a meal. Seasoned differently from region to region.

Turns up at Sheba

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Say it schi-sa

Literally to burn, to make hot

Inside shisa nyama. Also written chisa and chesa.

Turns up at Shisa nyama

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Say it schi-sa nja-ma

Literally burn the meat

The public form of braai: choose meat at the counter, have it weighed, have it cooked over coals, eat it there.

Turns up at Shisa nyama · Shisa nyama

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Say it skil-pai-ki

Literally little tortoise

Lamb liver in caul fat. The name comes from the shape, not the ingredient.

Turns up at Skilpadjies

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Say it slap-haks-kien-kiss

Literally floppy little heels

A warm onion salad in a sweet-sour sauce. The name describes the softly cooked rings.

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Say it smuur-snuk

Literally braised snoek

Smoor means to braise. The dish is the answer to yesterday’s snoek.

Turns up at Smoorsnoek

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Say it snuk

Literally pike — the Dutch name, though it is not a pike

Thyrsites atun, a predator of the Benguela current. At the Cape a winter fish.

Turns up at Snoek with apricot glaze · Snoek

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Say it sut-pa-tat

Literally sweet potato

Classically with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. In the coals the smoke comes on top.

Turns up at Sweet potatoes out of the coals

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Say it so-mer

Literally just, for no particular reason

Ons braai sommer means there is no occasion and we are lighting a fire anyway.

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Say it so-sa-ti

Literally from saus (marinade) and Malay sate (skewer)

Marinated meat on a skewer, usually lamb with apricot. The word carries its origin in it.

Turns up at Sosaties with apricot · Cape Malay

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Say it stamp-mii-lis

Literally stamped maize kernels

The same as samp: maize with the hull knocked off and coarsely broken.

Turns up at Samp · Umngqusho

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Say it stup

Literally covered veranda

Where people sit while the fire burns down. Related to the American stoop.

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Say it stei-we papp

Literally stiff porridge

Firm enough to break off pieces and dip them into the sauce.

Turns up at Pap — stywe pap and krummelpap

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Say it tang

Literally tongs

The one tool you genuinely cannot do without. A fork is not an alternative.

Turns up at Tongs

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Say it tschopp

Literally chop

From English chop. Usually lamb; skaaptjops are lamb chops specifically.

Turns up at Tjops · Karoo lamb chops

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Say it u-dsche-ke

Literally steamed bread

Dough steamed in a tin or bowl. In isiZulu it is distinguished from idombolo: ujeqe steams on its own, idombolo cooks on top of the stew.

Turns up at Potbrood · Pap — stywe pap and krummelpap

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Say it um-le-kwa

Literally from leqa — to chase

The free-ranging farmyard chicken. The name comes from having to chase it to catch it — and the meat is firm to match. It needs hours, not minutes.

Turns up at Peri-peri chicken · Cooking indirect

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Say it um-ng-tschu-scho (das q ist ein Klick)

Literally samp and beans

A Xhosa staple, isitambu in isiZulu. Far older than township braai culture, but a standard side at the fire today.

Turns up at Umngqusho

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Say it um-po-ko-kho (mit Klick beim q)

Literally crumbly maize porridge

The isiXhosa name. The q is a click, made against the palate.

Turns up at Pap — stywe pap and krummelpap

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Say it u-pu-tu

Literally crumbly maize porridge

The isiZulu name for what Afrikaans calls krummelpap.

Turns up at Pap — stywe pap and krummelpap

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Say it fet-kuk

Literally fat cake

A deep-fried dough ball, filled savoury with mince or eaten sweet with jam.

Turns up at Vetkoek with curried mince

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Say it füür

Literally fire

Maak die vuur means light it. Whoever takes that on sets the pace of the evening.

Turns up at Braai

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Say it waa-ter-blo-me-ki

Literally little water flower

The flower bud of Cape pondweed, picked in midwinter. Not available fresh outside the winter-rainfall areas.

Turns up at Waterblommetjiebredie · Waterblommetjies

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Say it worss

Literally sausage

Short for boerewors. Say wors and you mean the coil.

Turns up at Boerewors · Boerewors

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