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If you want to celebrate your South African heritage, impress your guests and elevate your entertaining to new heights, why not put together a themed grazing platter for your next function?
A themed grazing board will evoke memories of everything quintessentially South African. From beach braais and road trips to rugby matches and safari sunsets – a themed grazing platter will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane as well as a taste extravaganza for family and friends.
Let’s be honest, nothing gets the good times going quite like a shared platter where people gather round, swap stories and satisfy their snacky cravings at the same time. So why wait? Start planning your South African-themed grazing board today!
Variety is key when you create any type of grazing board.
The aim is to provide guests with a tempting array of bites which offers lots of different flavours, textures, colours, sizes and shapes. Presentation is also important and we’ll go into this into more detail later in the article.
Back to some ‘must-haves’ on your board.
Let’s start with what is probably the most instantly recognisable traditional product – biltong. No grazing board would be complete without a healthy helping of this delectable dried meaty treat, because it’s everyone’s favourite and is usually the first thing people reach for. You could have a couple of different flavours of beef biltong on your platter, with some snapsticks and droewors for added appeal.
Other South African favourites include chicken liver pate, dried mango, peppadews, cubes of juicy boerewors with some spicy chakalaka or Mrs Ball’s chutney for dipping, pickled onions or gherkins plus the usual grazing platter staples like cheese, cold meats and crackers.
In terms of the look of your platter, you want to create an appealing layered effect using serving tubs or glass jars of differing heights. A good tip here is to put a small bit of Blu-Tack (South Africans will know this as Prestik) underneath the tubs to secure them on the board.
For a high focal point, place some breadsticks, biltong snapsticks or droewors in one of the tubs, then add your dips, olives, pate, biltong etc in the others. You could even rustle up an easy biltong spread for your board – get the recipe here.
As you know, traditional South African meaty treats are everyone’s favourite, so it’s a good idea to keep some extra stock of beef biltong, snapsticks etc close by so you can replenish empty tubs quickly and easily!
The more colours, textures, shapes and flavours you have on your platter, the better.
First place some decorative items such as half a granadilla (or passion fruit as they are known in Australia), a small bunch of grapes, washed and cut strawberries, half a pomegranate, dried mango strips etc around the board, then you can arrange the other items in the spaces between.
Start with the cheese, crackers and meat and then fill in the gaps with nuts, pretzels, dried and fresh fruit such as dried apricots and blueberries and some fresh veggies like cherry tomatoes and carrot sticks. You could even include some wrapped chocolates for extra pizazz.
The idea is to have things that people can eat in one bite. Ending up with a pesky pip or sticky stalk is really inconvenient and messy – not to mention an awkward conversation-stopper. So keep your platter the centre of attention for the right reasons and take care when selecting your assortment of bites.
For a perfect South African-themed grazing board, you need the best biltong around. And you can find that right here at DJays Gourmet. We’ve been making Australia’s best biltong for nearly 30 years and the good news is that we deliver countrywide, so you won’t have to wait long for your fix. And if you live in Perth, you can get your hands on our fresh boerewors and burgers (made from 100% premium Aussie beef) by picking up directly from our factory in Malaga factory. To order, please give our friendly and helpful team a call on 08 9248 8277 or order biltong online and we’ll arrange quick and easy delivery to your door.
Arron Zamel has been General Manager of DJays Gourmet since 2015 and under his expert leadership, the company has cemented its reputation as Australia’s leading supplier of packaged jerky and biltong.
His strong family connection to South Africa, his marketing and management degree from Monash University, his technical expertise plus his experience as a successful entrepreneur and import/export business owner made him the ideal candidate for the challenging position.
Additionally, Arron’s innovative approach to management, his proven brand-building credentials, his strong customer focus and youthful energy have ensured that DJays Gourmet’s high-quality biltong and jerky have become Australia's dried meat treats of choice.
He understands traditional South African flavours and the precision techniques required to create truly authentic biltong, jerky and droewors (dried sausage). Part of his job is overseeing operations at DJays' purpose-built facility in Perth, WA where tons of Australian beef goes into making premium dried meat products each month for distribution to retail and wholesale customers across Australia.
For more insights into Arron’s world, visit the DJays Gourmet website, check out their Facebook page or follow them on Instagram @djaysgourmet.
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