A South African Braai Safari is not a braai manual, nor a definitive recipe book, but rather an original compilation of all you ever need to know about the art of outside cooking. This "Bible of Braaiing" includes not only advice on everything ranging from cuts of meat to braai wood, equipment and wine accompaniments, but also irreverent anecdotes from author and braaier extraordinaire, Richard Schaffer. 

It was while Richard was undergoing treatment for cancer in 2005 that his kids and close friends persuaded him to write about his true love. He says, “It was only some time after I had agreed to do the book that I realised the huge commitment.”

Richard’s "research" took him across South Africa as he met and braaied with the locals everywhere. Through Lamberts Bay, Niewoudtsville, Calvinia, Carnavon, Buffels Bay, Keimoes, Kakamas, Loxton, Graaff-Reinet, Gariep, Oudsthoorn, Vryburg, Knysna and more, Richard drove his mobile home on a 14 000 km odyssey. It might not have been across the sea in a wooden vessel, but it was an epic voyage nevertheless, physically and emotionally.

Richard dwells on the art of braaiing and life and his book could more aptly be titled The Braai and Life Safari as he "kuiers", reminisces, celebrates, teaches and embraces his passion for braaiing and living.

Richard grew up barefoot and carefree in Keiskammahoek in the Ciskei, only to be confined to a green Barathea blazer and straw basher at the age of ten and installed, reluctantly, at St Aiden's boarding school in Grahamstown. After school he and close friend Kingsley Holgate left to "work the world", which included an infamous stint in Devon, where the intrepid pair worked as assistant blasters. Rumour has it they took to the task with little caution and great enthusiasm.

In the late '60s they returned to South Africa and Kingsley and a butcher friend invested in a general dealer's store in the Nkwaleni Valley in Zululand. It was here that Richard learnt about meat and his love of braaiing was born. His success in the 1980 WP Braaiing Championships, followed by the World Braaiing Competition, were merely official stamps on his widespread reputation.

So what started him braaiing? He says with deadpan delivery, “My wife wasn’t a wonderful cook, so it was a necessity rather than a desire.” And after 35 years of "standing around the coals" Richard cannot commit to what is his best braai. He says, “It’s like asking which child is the favourite … there is no answer.” He does say, though, that even though his family are, "fishing verskrik", "vleis" is still his favourite. 

He is larger than life, boisterous, engaging, unashamedly forthright and down to earth, with a wonderful story-telling-around-the-fire sense of humour. One can only imagine that he was welcomed with traditional small town warmth as he traversed the country collecting recipes, experiences and geselskap and giving more of it in return.

He has some wonderful anecdotes, including: the home-made exploding peri-peri sauce; braaiing the bait for supper because the party were too chilled to bother fishing; sharing his boerewors with an emu; filling a "tasting basket" that was lowered optimistically on a rope from the tenants in the flat above in Mouille Point who couldn’t resist the aroma of his braai. There are obviously many more, but Richard is likely to insist that you hear the rest around a fire.

A South African Braai Safari covers Richard’s journey across South Africa sharing the braaiing experience with other enthusiasts – crossing his own Rubicon from a technological virgin (everything was written in long hand initially) to storing a year’s research, 800 photos of braais, braai types, people, places, recipes and a "moerova lot of words" on his iPod. “At least when I get 'gatvol' of braaiing, which is seldom, I now have over 3 500 songs stored on my iPod that I can listen or dance to!”

Richard’s dream is to travel to the UK introducing such South African delicacies as skaapstertjies, pofadders, skilpadjies, potbrood and koeksisters to the uninitiated. Who knows, perhaps we’ll see him on BBC Food, and a braaiing cult in the land of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding will be born.

A South African Braai Safari is available in leading bookstores countrywide.

A little something extra: Richard’s notes on who and what makes a good braaier

• You can teach someone all the tricks about braaiing, but he will never make the grade if he is too short and his legs too thin.
  
• They don’t burn themselves (or only occasionally or after long sessions), but they never declare the burn.
  
• They don’t cook meat "well done", and know, just by looking, if it is cooked properly.
  
• They always have a small bowl of cooking oil and brush at hand. This not only stops the meat sticking but is great for wiping off the dirt if the food drops on the floor.
  
• Good braaiers love variety. They are always on the lookout for something different to braai.
  
• They never criticise others if they are invited to a braai.
  
• They do NOT throw stompies on the fire.
  
• They don’t squirt water, beer or Coke on the fire when it starts flaming.
  
• All braaiers, good or average, wipe their hands on their broek, whether they are jeans or shorts, even if there are aprons and dishcloths.
  
• All braaiers need to learn the braai language. Wors is wors in any language, as is a skottel, rugstring, pofadders, skilpadjies, rooster, etc.