Where there is Fire, there must be a Braai...

By: Adeline Jubi


It might be the day of love and everything is heart themed… I decided however to rather post something food themed for Valentines day.

Where there is Fire, there must be a Braai Range (Adeline Joubert) and Veggie Braai I and II (Silver, Brass, Mokume Gane, hematite and Carnelian beads)

It is said that our humanity, the one thing that made us different from animals and  primitive hominid types, the deciding factor that determined that second sapiens in HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS, was the mere fact that  fire 
could be controlled and food could be cooked.

Heating proteins  and starch make it more digestible and humans could use less energy for digestion and more for developing their brains. Cattle have something like 4 stomachs and with most animals spend the whole day grazing and digesting. Early Hominids started making tools and hunted and gathered food in organized groups, in stead. In the evenings, they came together around cooking fires. Language and stories and knowledge were shared. The early human brain developed more neurons rapidly and so became bigger and more intelligent than its other raw food munching primate cousins.
  This means that first braai was around 250 000 years ago.It must be genetically built into our psyche to find it pleasing to gather around a fire and compare the size of your stone age hammer or more recently,your Hummer?

I recently did a jewellery range titled: “Where there is Fire, there must be a Braai”. This is a tongue in the cheek way to celebrate and comment on our South African culture with making a fire and having a braai. “Daar waar ons park, daar braai ons...” directly translated as : “where we park, we have a barbeque. To some South Africans a braai is like religion and every dude is the master of his own braai. My gourmet vegetarian husband, loves to braai... only he would tan a “braaibroodjie”, veggie kebabs with Haloumi and satay sauce instead of a chop. Only in South Africa there would be a reality show called: The ultimate Braai Master and boy, were those contestants put through their paces, it looked extremely difficult to complete those challenges. Champion Boerewors and Mrs Balls would simply not make the cut. 

Braai the Beloved Country and Kaapse Braai (Silver, Copper, Hematite beads, garnets)- Adeline Joubert

Braai Broodjie Ring (Silver, mokume gane, Brass and Resin) - Adeline Joubert

I came across some fascinating and amazingly quirky and kitsch food themed jewellery. Yummy enough to make you hungry?

SouZou Creations, "Creation through Imagination"

And for Valentines Day:

Miniature Food  Art by Allartshop. Also see Miniature Food Jewelry on Etsy.

Silver and gold food jewellery by Australian Artist Jeweller, Lucky Folk. Pasta, Popcorn and Pretzels as inspiration.