Biltong

Slice of Impala Anyone?

Biltong is a very popular snack in Southern Africa. If you've ever spent time in Southern Africa (and you're not a vegetarian) you've probably tried biltong. Biltong is similar to beef jerky in that it's all meat -- chewy, salty, raw meat. The difference is that biltong is dried, not smoked (like beef jerky). Biltong is usually made from either beef or game. Game biltong is made from various bucks like impala, kudu, and wildebeest. Ostrich biltong is also great. Personally I'm not that keen about feasting on a slice of kudu while I'm driving around watching these magnificent beasts in the wild -- but there's no denying, it is delicious. Game biltong tends to be less fatty than beef, so if you're watching your figure you know which one to go for.

The basic biltong recipe includes salt, vinegar, coriander, saltpeter (for the colour) and pepper. The ideal conditions for drying biltong are cool, very dry weather. The drying is the tricky bit, if it goes too slow your delicious piece of meat will turn green and that's never good. So special 'biltong boxes' are built to let just enough heat and air in to produce the perfect biltong.

Where Can You Get Biltong?

In the US:

The best biltong I've found in the US is from the South African Food Shop.

Other US Biltong retail outlets include:

• 800 Biltong
• Biltong USA
• The African Hut

In the UK:

You can get biltong fairly easily in the UK since there are lots of Southern Africans living there. Biltong2u Ltd. offers both beef and a wide variety of game biltong and Susman' s Best Beef Biltong also has a good choice of biltong types and flavors.

Other UK Biltong retail outlets include:

• African Enterprises
• Biltong Direct
• Biltong Box
• Blue Rock Biltong

Of course it's cheaper to make your own Biltong and there are plenty of sites that have recipes and ideas for the meat lovers out there. The most comprehensive biltong web site I found is a South African site called Biltongmakers.com (yes, biltong deserves entire web sites dedicated to it).