Number one Culprit. The Braai Fork.

When I was about 5 or 6 years old, my family quite often used to go down to a friend of my parents farm on the Crocodile River in Gauteng. About an hour or so's drive from Johannesburg where we lived. 

The lunch was usually lovely lamb loin chops cooked on the braai and I have fond memories of this. Now, let me explain. My mother was a Cordon Bleu cook and this is where I got my love of good food and cooking. 

Needless to say, she did the braaing and would brook no interference from the manne, I remember her first lesson to me. This was before the days of braai tongs and the only way to turn meat was with a fork. She stressed that the only way to turn a lamb chop was to only stick the fork into the fat and NOT into the meat. She explained that if the meat got pierced, all the juice would run out. 

Now even at that age a had a questioning mind and I decided to put it to the test. I was allocated 2 lamb chops to cook. One I only turned by piercing the fat section and the other I speared it full on in the middle. When I ate my meal, the results were easy to determine which was which. The pierced chop was dry and the fat only pierced one was juicy and succulent.

I have passed the little bit of advice to many friends over the years. Some have listened and others ignore my foolish rant.