Weekend sees Guinness World Record for the longest braai
Tuesday, 27 September, 2011
Fruit and Veg City
Saturday saw South African, Vito Polera, break the record for the
longest braai after taming hot coals for 32 hours straight at Food
Lover's Market, Willowbridge in Cape Town.
He beat the Guinness World Record for the world's longest ever recorded braai, previously held by fellow South African, Jan Braai, who set the record at 28 hours and 30 minutes in 2010. The record setting attempt was an idea from Brian Coppin, CEO and co-founder of Fruit and Veg City.
Says Polera, "It was not as hard as I thought it would be because the weather was good and many locals popped in to spur me on in support. Polera said that the victory is more special as it was done on Heritage Day and there's nothing like a good braai to show how much we have in common as South Africans."
Says Coppin, "My idea was for Fruit and Veg City to show support for the one day in the year when we celebrate our common heritage as South Africans whether you call it chisa nyama or braai, one thing is for certain, all South Africans, regardless of race or culture, like a piece of meat on the coals."
"Breaking the record set by Jan Braai is about keeping the record in South Africa there have been many contenders for the title since last year, but Fruit and Veg City is the first challenger to bring out an adjudicator from Guinness World Records to ensure its appropriately verified and official."
In the time it took to set the record from Friday, 23 September 2011 at 09h00 to Saturday, 24 September at 17h17 Vito braaied 74kg of meat, enough to feed 1300 people through Fruit and Veg City's CSR partner, Foodbank.
During this time, Polera only took two rest breaks, totaling just 17 minutes during the 32 hours.
This Guinness World Record setting attempt was not without strict regulations. Guinness World Record adjudicator, Tarika Vara, flew in from the UK to ensure that the strict criteria were met.
In order to meet the specified rules, Polera needed to have five types of meat cooking at all times and was not allowed any assistance, bar support from the many onlookers. Two cameras were required to capture every single minute of the braai, while time keepers and auditors from Deloitte were on hand to audit every moment of the braai.
Polera reckons his favourite meat for the braai is 'good old Karoo lamb chops' and theres nothing better than a braai with friends.
"My favourite place to braai is in my braai kamer. South Africas idea of having a braai room is indicative of our passion for braai weve devised a way to ensure that we can braai regardless of the weather, for any occasion!"