Fire Dancers pair takes the art of braai to new delicious heights

Chefs Laaika Moosa and Natalie Stewart cook with fiery passion to bring bold flavours to the great outdoors. 

The pair are the founders of Fire Dancers, a catering and outdoor dining venture that merges their passion for cooking over an open fire with scenic locations in the Timbavati valley in Tzaneen, Limpopo. 

The result, a scrumptious, rustic culinary experience with meat that has a chargrilled, smoky flavour and is caramelised to perfection.

“Fire brings people together, and we thought, why not bring people closer to the fire and watch us dance or cook around it. We make it an immersive experience,” says Moosa.

Cooking over an open fire is no small feat, says Moosa, a 37-year-old, who cites the common pitfalls of cooking outdoors. 

“People are often not in tune with the fire they are cooking on,” says Moosa.

“You don’t need to use the same fire for all your meats; the trick is to have different fires with a feeder fire feeding into the other fires.

“When we cook, we can have one fire pit, but have several different fires going at the same time. A hot fire for steaks; a fire for slow-cooking an oxtail potjie; a fire for vegetables, and they all require different heat.”

After leaving her corporate job, Moosa was in search of a creative outlet and tapped into her family’s love for food.

“I had just left my corporate job and moved back home in 2021 after the passing of my father,” she says. “While I was helping in the family business, I started my catering business called Laaiks Food, offering cooking classes, pop-up events and catering. Eventually, I collaborated with Natalie, and that’s how Fire Dancers began.”

Stewart, 37, studied at the Hong Kong Culinary Academy and returned to SA in 2021. “My family urged me to start cooking, and I began with pop-ups and cooking classes for my catering business, Meal Maniac,” she says.

“When I got the message from Laaika via Instagram to collaborate, I was running my cooking pop-ups. We are so similar in the way we work, and we synchronised, bonded and fused into Fire Dancers.”

Moosa, who grew up on a fruit farm near Tzaneen, said: “It was a foreign thing for Indian folk to braai. But with our family, it was a thing. My father was the braai-master in the family, and I would be his assistant. As I got older, he let me take the reins and I became the family braai-master.

“The boma was the one place that brought my family together and where we would cook. My father taught me how to braai. From there, I wanted to do more things on the fire. On the farm, we never had an oven, so we had to cook everything over a fire. From age 10, I would offer to cook the roast potatoes, which I still make today.”

Stewart says the secret to cooking over an open fire is to use quality produce and be open to trying new recipes.

“Don’t be afraid to play with new flavours and textures,” she says. “Also, keep it simple and use really good quality produce. We always use in-season and locally produced ingredients, and it always tastes better.

“It all comes down to being open to new and unconventional methods, and what you want from the meal.” 

Fire-baked whole pumpkin with harissa and feta 

Ingredients

• 1 large pumpkin (flat white, Hubbard or butternut) 

• Salt and pepper 

• Honey 

• 2 rounds of feta cheese 

• Harissa paste (store bought or see recipe below) 

• Fresh coriander to garnish

For Harissa paste

• 1 tablespoon dried chilli

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds 

• 1½ teaspoons coriander seeds 

• 3 garlic cloves, smashed 

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar 

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste 

• 1½ teaspoons hot smoked Spanish paprika 

• 1 teaspoon salt 
• ¼ cup olive oil 
• Mix the ingredients and refrigerate in a sealed jar.

 Method

• Place the pumpkin onto a flat bed of hot coals.

• After 40 minutes, turn it over and cook the other side for another 40 minutes.

• Once cooked, carefully remove the pumpkin from the coals and set it aside to cool.

• Once cool enough to touch, break the pumpkin open on a wooden board or platter, and spoon out the seeds. Don’t worry about the burnt skin, it will add to the flavour and texture.

• Cut the pumpkin into large pieces and season with salt & pepper. 

• Place dollops of harissa paste and crumbled feta cheese on the pumpkin and top off with an evenly generous drizzle of honey all over.

• Garnish with fresh coriander and serve