If you want to know if somebody is a South African, ask him to say the word…biltong… and…moreover, ask him what it is… ha! he won’t tell you what it is…he will just say…..hmmmmmmmmm…….yummmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy!! then you will know…that is a real South African, and not a “made” one…! My favourite is….Kudu biltong! of course you get biltong made of ostritch and all kinds of animals and people have their favourites… but, please don’t try elephant biltong…too much sinews! lol! I had it once…while we travelled the Kruger National Park…never again! That’s the best thing to have with you while travelling there… because biltong is something you shouldn’t gobble up so quickly…(but if you don’t get it every day…like you’re not in SA…and you do get it once in a while…there’s just no other way…you can’t help yourself…you have to gobble it up so quickly….<sigh>..) you have to taste it…think about it….chew it slowly…think more about it and the taste…see if you can find a lion at the water hole….then have another bite… aaah! yummy…. I like mine quite dry too… cut in small bits…. yikes! mouthwatering!!
Click HERE to read original article…but…most importantly…to learn everything about Biltong, how to make it, spices, hints and tips, cutters, etc…..
The word BILTONG is derived from the words “BIL” (BUTTOCK) or meat and ‘TONG” or strip. So it is just a strip of meat.
For centuries mankind has endeavoured to preserve meat. Seafarers, centuries ago, pickled meat in large wooden caskets and devoured this during the months they were at sea. No wonder they suffered from scurvy!!
African folklore has it that migrating African tribesmen, herding their stock, would place strips of venison under the saddles on their horses as the chaffing would tenderise the meat and the sweat of the animals would spice it! This must be when vegetarians were born!!
BILTONG as we know this delicacy today, is a rich inheritance from pioneering South African forefathers who sun dried meat during their trek across the African Subcontinent.
The basic spicing is a dramatic blend of vinegar, salt, sugar, coriander and other spices. These were in abundance in the then Cape Colony, as the French Hugenots produced wine and vinegar from their grape crops and the colony was the halfway stop for seafarers plying the spice routes of the East. Various brine recipes and marinades were created and handed down for generations!
Today BILTONG and DROE WORS (dried South African sausage) is a massive industry and the most sought after delicacies in Southern Africa
Chessalee 