Ireland has St Patrick’s Day, the French have Bastille Day and Australia has Australia Day.

For South Africa, we have Heritage Day which gives us an opportunity to celebrate all those traditions that are uniquely & proudly South African and to share the beauty of our rainbow nation.

Granny Mouse Country House and Spa will be toasting all things local on this special day and paying tribute to our rich and diverse cuisine, sweeping landscapes and many traditions.

One that gets everyone fired up is SA Braai Day on September 24th. At Granny Mouse Country House and Spa, our culinary artists will have tongs in hand and be turning the wors and searing the steak along with the best of them.

Just in case you can’t join us and have to enjoy your braai or potjie on the stoep or in your garden at home, here are some great culinary ideas to make your Heritage Day feast a special one: 

BBQ Rub 

• 1tbsp garlic powder
• 1 cup Cajun spice
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup treacle sugar
• 1tsp salt1tsp pepper 

Method: Combine all ingredients and apply to the meat. Rest for at least 12 hours before cooking. 

Chakalaka BBQ Sauce  

• 1 cup light soy sauce
• 1tbs vegetable
• 5 cloves of crushed garlic
• 1 cup Cajun spice
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup treacle sugar
• 5 rosemary stems
• 1L beef stock
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 410g Chakalaka 

Method: In a heavy based pot, place the oil, onions and rosemary. Sauté on low heat stirring consistently until the onions become translucent but not brown. To this add the garlic, brown sugar and soy sauce. Continue to cook on medium heat until the soy sauce has reduced by half. Once reduced, add all the remaining ingredients. Turn the heat up to high until the sauce begins to boil rapidly. Reduce the heat until it becomes a gentle simmer. Continue this until the sauce has reduced by half. Pour in the Chakalaka and continue to cook for another 10 min. At this point it can be used to slow cook your beef, pork or chicken in or you can reduce it further and use it as a basting sauce. 

Midlands’s Tiramisu  Ice cream ingredients: 

• 2L vanilla ice cream
• 200ml Nachtmusik 

Method: Soften the ice cream by leaving it out the fridge for a while. Pour in the Nachtmusik. Churn until they have completely combined and the ice cream becomes firm again. Rest in the freezer overnight 

Sponge ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 125g caster sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 115g plain flour
• 100g pistachio nuts peeled and crushed 

Method: Pre heat the oven to 190*c. separate the eggs. Whisk the egg yolks with half the sugar and all the vanilla. Beat till lightly coloured. Beat the egg whites till they hold soft peaks. While beating, slowly add the salt and remaining sugar until combined. Gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Add the nuts and sieve the flour into the egg mixture and gently fold them in until they are combined. Pipe the mixture onto a silicon baking sheet and bake for about 15 min.