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Biltong

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Sliced beef biltong
Homemade beef biltong sticks

Biltong is a kind of cured meat that originated in South Africa. Many different types of meat are used to produce it, ranging from beef through game meats to fillets of ostrich from commercial farms. It is typically made from raw fillets of meat cut into strips following the grain of the muscle, or flat pieces sliced across the grain. It is similar to beef jerky in that they are both spiced, dried meats, but differ in their typical ingredients, taste and production processes; in particular the main difference from jerky is that biltong is usually thicker (from cuts up to 1" (25 mm) thick), while jerky is rarely more than 1/8" (3 mm) thick and biltong does not have a sweet taste.

The word biltong is from the Dutch bil ("rump") and tong ("strip" or "tongue").[1]

Origins

The settlers (Dutch, German, French) who arrived in southern Africa in the early 17th century brought recipes for curing and drying meat from Europe.[citation needed] Preparation involved applying vinegar and rubbing the strips of meat with a mixture of salts (saltpetre) and spices including pepper, coriander and cloves. The need for preservation in the new colony was pressing. Building up herds of livestock took a long time but with indigenous game in abundance, traditional methods were available to preserve large masses of meat such as found in the eland in a hot climate. Iceboxes and fridges had not been invented yet. Biltong as it is today evolved from the dried meat carried by the wagon-travelling Voortrekkers, who needed stocks of durable food as they migrated from the Cape Colony noth and north-eastward (away from British rule) into the interior of Southern Africa during the Great Trek.[citation needed] The meat was preserved and hung to be dried for a forthnight and would be ready for packing in cloth bags within a fortnight.

Ingredients

The most common ingredients of biltong are:[2][3]

Modern-day ingredients sometimes added include: balsamic vinegar or malt vinegar, dry ground chili peppers, nutmeg, garlic, bicarbonate of soda, Worcestershire sauce,[4] onion powder, and saltpetre.

Meat

Prior to the introduction of refrigeration, the curing process was used to preserve all kinds of meat in South Africa. However today biltong is most commonly made from beef, primarily because of its widespread availability and lower cost relative to game. For the finest cuts, fillet, sirloin or steaks cut from the hip such as topside or silverside. Other cuts can be used, but are not as high in quality.

Biltong can also be made from:

Bokkoms should not be confused with other cured fish such as dried angelfish and dried snoek.

Preparation

Ideally the meat is marinated in a vinegar solution (grape vinegar is traditional but balsamic and cider also works very well) for a few hours, this being finally poured off before the meat is flavoured.

The spice mix traditionally consists equal amounts of: rock salt, whole coriander slightly roasted and roughly ground, black pepper and brown sugar.[8] This mix is then ground roughly together, sprinkled liberally over the meat and rubbed in. Saltpetre is optional and can be added as an extra preservative (necessary only for wet biltong that is not going to be frozen).

The meat should then be left for a further few hours (or refrigerated overnight) and any excess liquid poured off before the meat is hung in the dryer.

Drying

Biltong quick drying using an electric oven

It is typically dried out in the cold air (rural settings), cardboard or wooden boxes (urban) or climate-controlled dry rooms (commercial). Depending on the spices used, a variety of flavours may be produced. Biltong can also be made in colder climates by using an electric lamp to dry the meat, but care must be taken to ventilate, as mould can begin to form on the meat.

A traditional slow dry will deliver a medium cure in about 4 days.

An electric fan-assisted oven set to 40–70 °C (100–160 °F), with the door open a fraction to let out moist air, can dry the meat in approximately 4 hours.[citation needed] Although slow dried meat is considered by some to taste better, oven dried is ready to eat a day or two after preparation.

Comparison to jerky

Biltong differs from jerky in two distinct ways:

  • The meat used in biltong can be much thicker; typically biltong meat is cut in strips approx 1" (25 mm) wide – but can be thicker. Jerky is normally very thin meat.
  • The vinegar, salt and spices in biltong, together with the drying process, cures the meat as well as adding texture and flavour. Jerky is traditionally dried with salt but without vinegar.

Retail

A display in a shop that sells biltong, Johannesburg.

Biltong is a common product in Southern African butcheries and grocery stores, and can be bought in the form of wide strips (known as stokkies, meaning "little sticks"). It is also sold in plastic bags, sometimes shrink-wrapped, and may be either finely shredded or sliced as biltong chips.

There are also specialised retailers that sell biltong. These shops may sell biltong as "wet" (moist), "medium" or "dry". Additionally, some customers prefer it with a lot of fat within the muscle fibres, while others prefer it as lean as possible.

A 2013 study analysed samples of game meat from South African supermarkets, wholesalers, and other outlets. It was found that some types of biltong labelled "kudu", "springbok", or "ostrich" were made of hartebeest. Of 146 samples, 100 were mislabelled, which revealed a great problem in meat labelling in South Africa.[9]

Eating

While biltong is usually eaten as a snack, it can also be diced up into stews, added to muffins and pot bread.[10] Biltong-flavoured potato crisps have also been produced.[11]

Biltong can be used as a teething aid for babies.[12] Some retail stores offer a mild form of biltong especially for this purpose which does not contain the spices used for flavouring.[citation needed]

Biltong worldwide

Biltong's popularity has spread to many other countries, notably Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and now India which have large South African populations, and also to the United States. Biltong is also produced within South African expatriate communities across the globe, for example in Germany and even South Korea.

Biltong produced in South Africa may not be imported into Britain, according to rules governing the importation of meat-based products from non-EU countries laid down by Customs & Excise department,[13] thus it is made in the UK.

See also

Foods similar to biltong include:

List of African dishes

References

  1. ^ Eric Partridge (20 September 2006). Origins: An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-42114-7. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  2. ^ Rockland, Louis B. (1987). "Intermediate Moister Foods". Water Activity: Theory and Applications to Food. CRC Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-8247-7759-3. Retrieved 29 September 2008. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, and |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Arora, Dilip K. (1991). "Xerophilic Fungi in Intermediate and Low Moisture Foods". Handbook of Applied Mycology. CRC Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8247-8491-1. Retrieved 29 September 2008. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, and |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Madikwa, Zenoyise (25 September 2008). "Making biltong is really simple". The Sowetan. Retrieved 29 September 2008. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Biltong profits cut and dried". Business Report. 23 May 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2008. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) [dead link]
  6. ^ Wylie, Diana (2001). Starving on a Full Stomach: Hunger and the Triumph of Cultural Racism in Modern South Africa. University of Virginia Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-8139-2068-9. Retrieved 23 September 2008. Sometimes the food donated as famine relief were memorably bizarre, and surprisingly popular, such as shark biltong (dried shark meat). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  7. ^ Heemstra, Elaine (2004). Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa. NISC (PTY) Ltd. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-1-920033-01-9. Retrieved 23 September 2008. [T]he meat [of the soupfin shark] is dried, salted and sold as shark biltong. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  8. ^ "Traditional Biltong Recipe". Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  9. ^ BioMed Central (1 March 2013). "Problems with identifying meat? The answer is to check the barcode". BioMed Central. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  10. ^ "What to do with Biltong". Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  11. ^ Examine the World Snack Foods Markets, Reportlinker.com, 29 April 2008, retrieved 29 September 2008, Simba Launches Lay's Potato Chips in Biltong Flavor {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |funding= and |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ Boase, Tessa (10 January 2005). "African snackshot". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 29 September 2008. [Biltong is] particularly good for teething babies {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  13. ^ HMRC. "FAQ: Meat, food and plants". Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
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