Buy biltong, dried beef South African style.

The name seems a bit strange. It has nothing to do with a tongue and yet it is Dutch, purely Dutch.

The technique of drying meat was a introduced to South Africa by the Dutch pioneers.

Biltong is the national snack in South Africa

invented by Dutchmen. In times when there were no refrigerators, no freezers, and no shops in the undiscovered areas where the pioneers’ expeditions took place, the adventurers had to make up for the lack of food.

After all, food only lasts a few days. The pioneers from the Netherlands and Flanders knew something about it: you can dry meat. And then it lasts for months. In Holland, of course, meat is also dried for sausage,such as the cork dry Frisian dried sausage, and ham.

Perhaps meat was simply dried to serve as a snack or snack while working in the fields. Little is known about this, but it is plausible.

The Dutchmen who left for South Africa as “pioneers” knew that, they knew the technology.

That’s how they did it:

Cut the meat into strips about 1 centimeter thick. Width and length depend on the cut of meat available.

Before drying the meat put it in coarse salt (table salt is too fine). After it has been sitting for a while, the salt is removed with the back of a knife.

The longer in the salt, the saltier the taste. Ten minutes is often enough. Afterwards it is passed through vinegar with a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.

Traditionally, apple cider vinegar is used for preparation but other flavors are also quite useful. The meat is rubbed with a spice mixture after the salt and vinegar treatment.

After the treatment, the meat is hung in the open air to dry in a cardboard box or drying cabinet. Drying time varies.

• Choose your weight.
• Store in the freezer and take out as needed!
• Read more about how to preserve biltong and beef jerkey here
• Beef, salt e250, pepper, coriander, vinegar.Energy: 1096 kJ/261 Kcal, Proteins: 53.5 g, Carbohydrates: 0.6 g, Fat: 7.1 g (of which saturated: 2.1 g), Fiber: 1.8 g, Sodium: 2.1 g.
• Allergens: none