Dish
Braai / Shisa Nyama
The South African cookout — meat over open coals, from a backyard braai to a township shisa nyama, and the country's social ritual.
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Why it's worth your time
Two names for the same ritual. 'Braai' is Afrikaner; 'shisa nyama' is Zulu — literally 'burn the meat' — and belongs to the township tradition where a butcher's counter doubles as a grill. For a visitor, a township shisa nyama is the truer experience: you pick your meat raw, they cook it over coals, and you eat it standing with the locals. Mzoli's in Gugulethu, Cape Town, is the famous version; a backyard braai anywhere is the everyday one.