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

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.

Tony’s braaied beef fillet with fresh chimichurri

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

1 x 400g slab of beef fillet, at room temperature

Salt and black pepper

Olive oil, as needed

For the chimichurri:

1 cup Italian parsley, very finely chopped

4 fat cloves garlic, very finely chopped

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

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Half a cup extra virgin olive oil

Coarse salt, a generous amount, to taste

Black pepper to taste

Method

Light a large fire using dry wood, and build up an impressive bed of coals. Even though you’re only braaing one thing, it needs a lot of heat, and for that heat to continue to be available until the meat is cooked.

Rinse the parsley and drain. Pat it dry before chopping. Chop it very finely, and keep doing so until it becomes wet. This only happens after intensively repeated chopping.

Peel and chop the garlic with similar conviction. 

If using fresh oregano, chop that in the same way, but dried oregano is perfectly acceptable in chimichurri, if not actually preferred.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or jug and stir. Do not blend. Leave it to stand while you get your coals ready. Make sure the beef fillet is out of the fridge for at least an hour before cooking.

Once you have an impressive bed of coals, and a clean grid, pop back into the kitchen and salt the beef well all over. Grind black pepper all over it too. Pour a little olive oil into a bowl or bakkie and roll the beef in it, to coat it all over. You can do this an hour or two earlier if you like.

Put it on the grid and turn it every 3 to 5 minutes, turning and turning, so that it cooks evenly and leaves a reasonable amount of pinkness at the centre, depending on how pink you like it.

If you don’t trust your instincts and that “feel” you develop over time for pressing the meat and just knowing it’s tender and right, use a meat thermometer if you must. It’s anathema to me, but those who insist on measuring an internal temperature and taking the joy out of braaing say it should be… whatever.

Ag, ask AI if you must. No AI bot will ever know the joy of cooking at a lapa in Arniston. They can’t take that away from us.

Guess what? It felt just right, and it was. That’s the joy of cooking in flame, not sticking a blimmin’ thermometer in it. DM

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.