Showstopper Braai: Five dishes your guests will still talk about next year

Every family has that one braai. Somebody still talks about the leg of lamb from a few Decembers back, or the year an uncle braaied a whole snoek and nobody touched the chops. That's a showstopper, and it's easier to pull off than it looks.

Chops and wors will always have their place. The festive season is different, though. People have time to linger, the table is longer, and that's when one bigger dish earns its spot on the fire. Each of the five below comes down to one technique. Learn it, practise it once before the holidays, and you're set.

We've given a target temperature for each dish. For the full list, keep our guide to feeding a festive crowd handy.

1. Spatchcock chicken

Spatchcocking means cutting out the backbone and pressing the bird flat. A flat chicken cooks evenly in about an hour, so the breast doesn't dry out while the thighs catch up. It also looks fantastic coming off the fire.

Use strong kitchen scissors to cut down both sides of the backbone, turn the bird over and press hard on the breastbone until it flattens. Push two long metal skewers through crossways, from each thigh to the opposite wing, so it holds its shape and turns in one piece. Rub it the night before with a good chicken rub like Mother Clucker and leave it uncovered in the fridge. Dry skin crisps. Wet skin goes rubbery.

Cook it skin side up on the cool side of a kettle braai with the lid closed for 45 to 60 minutes, then move it skin side down over the coals for the last five minutes. It's ready at 74°C in the thickest part of the thigh. Rest it for ten minutes before you carve.

A lid makes all the difference here. If you don't have a lidded braai yet, the Weber Original Kettle 57 is the classic for this kind of cooking.

2. Butterflied leg of lamb

A whole leg on the bone needs a spit or hours of patience. Butterflied, it braais in under an hour over open coals and still feeds eight to ten people.

Ask your butcher to debone and butterfly a 2 to 2.5kg leg. It won't be an even thickness, and that works in your favour: the thin end comes out medium for those who like it that way, and the thick end stays pink.

Marinate it overnight in olive oil, crushed garlic, rosemary and lemon zest, or use a Lamb-orgini rub if you're short on time. Braai it in a large folding grid over medium coals, turning every five minutes, for 35 to 45 minutes. Pull it off when the thickest part reads 57 to 60°C. Rest it under foil for 15 minutes, then slice it thinly across the grain.

The folding grid is what makes this dish manageable. A Megamaster 500 x 400 stainless steel folding grid takes a whole butterflied leg and lets you flip it in one movement.

3. Reverse-seared steak or picanha

Thick steak is where most braaiers come unstuck. Either the outside chars while the middle is still cold, or the middle gets there and the outside has gone grey. Reverse searing fixes that by doing the gentle cooking first and the searing last.

Buy one big, thick steak (4 to 5cm) for the table: a ribeye on the bone, a thick sirloin or a picanha, which is the rump cap with its fat still on. Salt it generously the day before and leave it uncovered in the fridge. If you want a darker crust, add a beef rub like Bull Dust before it goes on.

Set up two zones and put the steak on the cool side with the lid closed. When the centre reaches 46 to 48°C (somewhere between 40 minutes and an hour, depending on thickness), move it over the hottest coals and sear it for a minute or two a side. Picanha goes fat side down first, until the fat crisps and renders. Rest it for five minutes, then carve it on a board in front of everyone. People love that bit.

You're working to the degree here, so a thermometer is the one tool you can't skip. The Megamaster Compact Thermometer gives an instant reading and folds away into your braai kit.

4. Whole snoek or yellowtail

Few things are as South African as a butterflied snoek on the grid, basted with apricot jam and butter.

Ask for the fish vlekked (opened flat and cleaned) with the skin on. Oil your folding grid well, season the flesh with salt and a fish seasoning like Good Thymes, and braai it skin side down over moderate coals for most of the cooking time. The skin protects the flesh and holds the fish together.

Baste every few minutes with melted butter, apricot jam, garlic and a squeeze of lemon. A proper basting brush keeps your hands away from the heat. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the flesh is opaque and flakes easily at the thickest part, flip it for a minute to colour the top. Fish needs very little rest, so serve it straight from the grid with roosterkoek or sweet potatoes baked in the coals.

If your fishmonger has no snoek, a butterflied yellowtail or kabeljou works the same way.

5. Braaied pineapple or peaches

Dessert on the braai catches people off guard, which is half the fun. Use the coals that are left once the mains come off.

Cut a pineapple into long wedges or thick rings, or halve and stone a few firm peaches. Melt butter with brown sugar, a pinch of cinnamon and a splash of rum or brandy. Brush the fruit, put it on a clean, oiled grid (the folding grid works well for rings) and cook it for three to four minutes a side, basting again as you turn, until it's soft and caramelised. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream and whatever's left of the butter.

Putting your festive menu together

Don't try all five on Christmas Day. Pick two mains and the dessert, and plan the fire around the slowest dish. The chicken and the lamb can both go on early and rest under foil. The steak and the fish need your full attention right at the end, so choose one of them, not both. Dessert goes on the fading coals as everyone sits down to eat.

Most importantly, practise once. Cook your showstopper for the family on a quiet weekend in early December, jot down your timings, and on the day you'll look like you've been doing it for years.

Happy braaiing, and enjoy showing off a little this festive season.