THE BILTONG KING: HISTORY OF BILTONG

Biltong is a kind of cured meat that originated in South Africa. Many different types of meat are used to produce it, ranging frombeef 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 process; in particular the main difference from jerky is that biltong is usually thicker (from cuts up to 1" thick), while jerky is rarely more than 1/8" thick and biltong does not have a sweet taste.

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

The Dutch settlers who arrived in southern Africa in the 17th century brought recipes for dried meat from Europe.^{[citation needed]} Preparation involved applying vinegar, then rubbing the strips of meat with a mix of herbs, salts and spices. The need for preservation in the new colony was pressing. Building up herds of livestock took a long time. There was native game about but it could take hunters days to track and kill a large animal such as an eland and they were then faced with the problem of preserving a large mass of meat in a short time in a hot climate during a period of history before iceboxes had been invented. Desiccation solved the problem. 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 north-eastward (away from British rule) into the interior of Southern Africa during the Great Trek.^{[citation needed]} The raw meat was preserved from decay and insects within a day or two and within a fortnight would be black and rock-hard, having been fully cured.

The Dutch settlers, my forebears, left us a great legacy Biltong is one such legendary legacy and this webpage is a tribute to not only Biltong but also a salute to all the other Boere dinge, like Braai vleis, Boerewors, Koeksisters, Boerebeskuit, Boere troos (koffee) aand the unique Boere musiek. These delectable gems have left the South African shores and now have pride of place in all of the four corners of the globe even in some of the furthermost outreaches.