Munier recently spent some time with his in-laws in Turkey.
The Turks are famous for their hospitality and really know how to treat visitors.
Every day the family would ask Munier if he had any special meal requests and would refuse to accept any help in the kitchen, or with the shopping.
One day Munier decided he had had enough of being treated like a sultan, and said: “Today it’s my turn. I’m going to braai for everyone. No one is allowed to do any work in the kitchen.”
So he went to the butcher, got some lamb chops and chicken, and began setting up the braai in the backyard.
No sooner had he started, however, than his brother-in-law, Sezgin, volunteered to “assist”.
What this meant was that Munier would again be allowed to do as little as work as possible.
Once the wood and coals were ablaze, Sezgin took over the braai master duties - with a vengeance.
He was up and down and all around the fire, blowing and fanning, fanning and blowing, stoking and dolling the kole, shifting and petering every five seconds.
It was exhausting just watching him do his thing.
Out of breath and perspiring, he said: “It would have been easier to do it on a gas stove.”
ALL-DAY AFFAIR: A braai is an occasion where family, friends get together to bond and share a few laughs
It wasn’t working out how Munier had planned at all.
So he suggested: “Sezgin, leave the fire, it will burn.
“Let’s pull up a chair, relax, have some snacks and drinks, and talk ’n bietjie k**. That’s how we do it in South Africa.”
Sezgin pointed out: “But the family’s waiting, the kids need to be fed, we need to get done.”
“Alright,” agreed Munier.
So together we finished in record time - within an hour, the meat was on the table and everyone was chowing.
Mmm, the braaivleis was lekker, cooked to perfection.
The Turks really know how to barbecue.
Still, Munier felt like he didn’t have a “braai”.
It was apparent there’s a difference between our braai culture and the way other nationalities do it.
For South Africans, a braai isn’t just a meal.
It’s an occasion where family, friends and colleagues get together to bond and share a few laughs.
It’s an all-day affair. If you have a braai on, you don’t make other plans for the day. The sitting down and eating part is an afterthought.
And you don’t arrive at a braai hungry - ever.
These are all uniquely South African cultural conventions.
We don’t realise what it means to be South African until we are out of SA.
And this, fellow countrymen, is what Heritage Day is all about.
On Monday 25 September, celebrate all the things that make us uniquely Capetonian and South African.
Our food, our language, our music, our sport, our culture and history.
Local is mos lekker. Happy Heritage Day, everyone!