Week 38: Building South Africa's smartest braai planner

The Experiment

While browsing online, I stumbled across a website with a "braai index" that calculated costs and portions for South African braais (barbecue/grill for non-South Africans.) It seemed useful enough, but also frustratingly one-dimensional. Just meat quantities and basic costs—no cultural flair, no menu planning, no sense of what makes a proper braai special.

With Heritage Day (September 24th) approaching (otherwise known as "Braai day"), I had a thought: what if I could create something that was better at getting to the soul of a South African braai? Not just "700g of meat per person" (which, honestly, seems hectic even by braai standards), but a proper planner that understood the difference between a traditional family braai and a shisa nyama feast.

So I decided to build Braai Boss: an AI that could plan authentic South African braais with menus, shopping lists, timelines, costs, and even cultural context.

The Process

Here's how I tackled it:

1. Getting the Framework Right I started with Claude during a walk (and was amused by its pronunciation of "braai" as "bri-ey"). In about 20 minutes, I had Claude outline what a proper South African braai planner should include: different cultural styles, proper portions, timing charts, and local context.

2. Building in ChatGPT Armed with Claude's framework, I spent about an hour going back and forth with ChatGPT to build the custom GPT. The process was surprisingly smooth—building GPTs has become pretty straightforward. I focused on: Cultural knowledge (Traditional family, Shisa Nyama, Cape Malay, Afrikaans heritage) Practical planning (portions, timings, dietary preferences) Local pricing and shopping lists That authentic South African tone (plenty of "lekker" and "sharp sharp")

3. Creating the Landing Page Using Cursor, I built a landing page for 52aiexperiments.com/braai-boss. I gave it a fairly wobbly prompt along with some images I had, and it delivered about 80% of what I wanted—proper content, decent layout, just needed some tweaking. Pretty impressive for minimal input.

4. Testing the Beast I put Braai Boss through its paces with various scenarios. The results were solid: detailed shopping lists, realistic timelines, cultural authenticity, and my favorite feature—it generates a food-magazine-style photo of the suggested braai plate at the end.

The Outcome

I'd rate this experiment an 8/10. Here's what worked:

The Good:

• Cultural Depth: Unlike basic portion calculators, Braai Boss understands the difference between different braai styles

• Complete Planning: It handles everything from fire-lighting schedules to drink pairings to dietary preferences

• Visual Appeal: The generated plate photos add a nice touch that makes planning feel more engaging

• Local Context: Proper South African pricing, local ingredient suggestions, and authentic cultural knowledge

The Build Process:

• ChatGPT's custom GPT creation is genuinely user-friendly now

• Cursor's ability to build a landing page from loose instructions was impressive

• Total time investment: a couple of hours plus some tweaking

Real-World Testing: The responses feel authentic and practical. Instead of just "buy X amount of boerewors," it suggests specific combinations, timing for different cuts, and even tips like when to put the pap on versus when to start the sosaties.

Key Takeaway

Sometimes the best AI projects come from improving on existing solutions rather than creating something entirely new. That basic braai index was functional but soulless—adding cultural context, better UX, and AI's natural language abilities turned a simple calculator into something decent for Heritage Day planning.

Pro Tips for Beginners:

1. Start with Existing Solutions: Look for one-dimensional tools in your area of interest and think about how AI could add layers of context and personality

2. Use AI for Framework First: Claude's 20-minute brainstorming session saved feature planning time

3. Test with Real Scenarios: I actually used Braai Boss to plan a braai, which revealed gaps the theoretical planning missed

Want to Try It Yourself?

• Try Braai Boss: Available as a custom ChatGPT at 52aiexperiments.com/braai-boss

• Build Your Own: Custom GPTs in ChatGPT Plus are surprisingly accessible—start with an itch you want to scratch

• Next Steps: I'm planning to use AI to help with PR and promotion—let's see how that goes!