A hunk of beef braaied on the coals, served with chimichurri

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In Arniston this week, I braaied a juicy chunk of beef fillet and served it with homemade chimichurri. It was the perfect way to throw together a pleasing braai supper at the end…

In Arniston this week, I braaied a juicy chunk of beef fillet and served it with homemade chimichurri. It was the perfect way to throw together a pleasing braai supper at the end of a long day on the road.

Being on the long roads through the Klein Karoo makes you hungry, but it also tires you. I always have both eyes on the road ahead of me, watching for that idiot driver who is always there, ready to overtake on a long blind rise regardless of the possibility of a car with a family going on holiday in the other direction being just out of sight and oncoming at speed.

But my other eye is also on the end of the day, and on Sunday I was picturing the cottage we’d rented in Arniston/Waenhuiskrans, which in the photos I’d seen had a lovely lapa (boma if you prefer) at the back. That was to be my reward after the drive from De Rust.

I make chimichurri now and then. It’s become very popular, for its fresh, spiky flavour and its versatility. I’ve even added it to a braai bread. I figured that a decent supermarket would have fresh parsley, garlic, and red chillies, either fresh or dried oregano (which in any case is usually preferred to fresh in chimichurri), and the necessary red wine vinegar.

At Bredasdorp, the nearest large town to Arniston (where there are no shops worth mentioning), I happened to find a 400g slab of beef fillet, perfect for my needs.

The secret of chimichurri is that nothing is cooked or blended. All you do is chop and mix. Done.

And I could chop and mix the chimichurri in barely five minutes. Then spend a leisurely couple of hours tending the coals in the lovely big boma out back. A glass of wine, the commune with the flames as you tend them into coals. A relationship as old as time, and still the most soothing way to end a day. Happiness.

3 Tbs fresh oregano leaves, picked from their stems and finely chopped (or use 2 tsp dried oregano)

Light a large fire using dry wood, and build up an impressive bed of coals.

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