Jacket Required

How to plan

• Keep the guest list quite small; everyone must be seated around a table for the dinner, but if you go bigger, consider outside catering or a spit braai.
• You can make the dress code jacket and tie instead of black tie, but the point is to get dressed up.
• If it’s cold, you will need extra heating, alternatively serve drinks outside by the braai or a fire pit and then move inside for dinner.
• Support local breweries and serve craft beer on arrival.
• Glass bowls or silver trays of biltong are a perfect drinks snack; dried mango and nuts also work well.
• Someone needs be in charge of the braai for the duration of the evening.
• Make your table look decadent: use glassware, silver cutlery, beautiful napkins and lots of candlelight.
• Keep the menu deliberately simple: steak, kebabs, pap and sheba sauce with land ribbetjies and boerie sticks (see recipe below) and corn on the cob. You can even order takeaway hot chips to be delivered just before dinner and serve them on big platters.
• Or go deliberately sophisticated with grilled prawns and dips served with vegetable skewers and homemade garlic loaves.
• For dessert, a selection of s’mores and marshmallows to cook on the fire, mini ice creams and homemade chocolate brownies should do the trick.  

Kebabs or sausage sticks are always best on the coals and can be dressed up for any occasion.

Sausage sticks

You need: 8 thin lamb or beef sausages; 250g ready-made bread dough  

1. Skewer the sausage onto the sticks. Take a golf-ball size amount of bread dough and roll it into a long thin ‘sausage’. Use the flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands and work surface.
2. Wrap a strip of dough around the sausage and onto the skewer. Repeat with the rest. Cook over hot coals for 15 – 20 minutes.

Tips:

• Use ready-made dough.
• Leave out the dough if you prefer. Thread the sausage onto rosemary stalks and hold over the coals for 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through.