The sun is shining brightly here in Castelldefels, Barcelona with the temperature standing at 21 degrees. Although it is late summer and despite the Spanish trying to tell me that this is now Autumn, it still reminds me of balmy summer days and barbequing or braaing, as South African’s say. I came across the ideas below in iafrica for some snacks which are not the bought-type at all. How refreshing to be able to produce these simple snacks which do far more for us than processed packaged chips, peanuts and the like.

Check out iafrica for some other tasty dishes too. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, many braai recipes will adapt to the grill. Somehow though, that wonderful smell of drifting woodsmoke peppered with herby topnotes as you add a handful of rosemary to the coals can’t quite be replicated on the grill. Time to find out when you can get that holiday fitted in and finally discover South Africa for yourselves! Enjoy.
Marinate your own olives. It’s so easy. Buy the plain olives at your local supermarket. Drain them and then add your own touch. Try fresh thyme, chilli chopped very finely and lemon zest mixed with a little olive oil, and then leave for an hour. These make a great nibble and are bound to impress your guests. For great olives in Cape Town, discover homegrown olives out in the Winelands such as Morgenster, L’Olivier and Kloovenburg. Likewise for those of us here in Spain, we can find any number of impressive estate grown olives to turn that little black or green globe into a tastebud delight!

Spicy, caramelised nuts make great snacks too. Take a couple of handfuls of nuts: almonds, pecans and brazils. Place a little butter in a pan and add a teaspoon of sesame seeds and a teaspoon of dried coriander. Fry gently and then add the nuts, allowing them to become coated with the spice. Add a generous tablespoon of honey and cook until the honey caramelises. Cool on a sheet of greaseproof paper and serve cooled.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Food and Wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.