How much do you know about South Africa's favourite snack?

Biltong

Biltong is one of the most famous snacks in South Africa. It is a dried meat that is most often made from beef, but can also be made from kudu, springbok, impala or ostrich.

The origins of biltong can be traced back to the Dutch settlers of the 17th century. The word ‘biltong’ is Dutch. ‘Bil’ means rump and ‘tong’ means strip or tongue. There are a few conflicting accounts of why the settlers started curing their meat in this way.

One theory is that they were forced to come up with the recipe because they often had to travel tens of kilometres hunting for game, and they needed a reliable method of stopping the meat from spoiling. Another theory is that when the Voortrekkers moved inland on the Great Trek, they needed a method of preparing their food that made it easy to carry and resistant to spoiling.

The ideal time for making biltong was in winter, when the air was dry.

One of the first recipes consisted of first applying vinegar to the meat, then rubbing it with salt, coriander, pepper and brown sugar. The meat was then hung in a dry space for about two to three weeks. The end result was a perfectly preserved piece of biltong.

Although this recipe is still in use today, there is a much wider variety of flavours to choose from, ranging from peri peri and barbecue to garlic.

Nowadays, biltong is used in pizza, pita breads, stews and omelettes. Some parents even use biltong as a teething aid for babies, although it is recommended that a special unsalted variety made especially for children be used for this purpose.

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