About Biltong
Biltong
noun
1. Narrow strips of sun-dried meat.
2. A South African name for lean meat cut into thin strips and dried in the sun.
3. Lean meat cut into strips and sun-dried.
4. The fastest way to consume 4Lbs of Meat without thinking about it.
The word Biltong (bil-tong) was first used in 1815!
This South African delicacy called biltong has been used since the 1600s by farmers, as a way of preserving and storing meat.
Meat preservation as a whole has been around for centuries. European seafarers preserved meat for long journeys by curing it with salt or brine. In the early 17th century, European settlers who came to South Africa, added vinegar to the curing process that inhibits growth of certain deadly bacteria. The indigenous people of South Africa preserved meat by slicing it into strips, curing it with salt and hanging it to dry.
The Great Trek 1835 – 1846 was an eastward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British Colonial Administration. During this Great Trek and the greater part of their settling in other parts of South Africa, these settlers had to live off the land. Although Biltong was not a known product to their diet yet, they quickly learned from the indigenous people how valuable this process of preserving meat was.
In earlier centuries when the environment and lifestyles did not conform to huge herd of livestock, the farmers and hunters turned to game/wildlife since that was abundantly available. Because of the lack of proper refrigeration, the most perishable meat of the animal would be consumed first. The bigger cuts were cured, air dried and cut into strips to be enjoyed later. Today, this is called Biltong! A South African delicacy still consumed by millions of people in South Africa, and finally, now starting to be introduced to many other countries.
Although the name would always be Biltong, and the end product would testify to the unique taste and texture, the process had been changed just a little, to ensure the safety of our consumers. No more tenderizing and spicing under a saddle and no more sun-dried! More sophisticated methods are employed to bring you the same tasteful healthy snack.
