Biltong

Biltong hung on an electric oven for quick drying

Biltong in a Despar supermarket, Johannesburg

Biltong (from Dutch bil 'club' and tong 'tongue' ) is a dried meat used in South African and Namibian cuisine , consisting of air-dried beef or game meat . There is no legal definition of the physico-chemical properties of biltong. Most of the scientific studies on commercially produced biltong date from the 1970s to 1980s, with the exception of the most recent study from 2014, which was conducted on 11 samples. These gave a moisture content between 10 and 50%, with an a _w value between 0.54 and 0.89, a sample being given as 0.93. The salt content can be between 2 and 11%, but usually the final salt content is 4 to 8%.

Manufacturing

Beef is often used for the production of biltong - but it is also common in Namibia to use meat from ostrich , kudu , springbok , eland , chamois and other wild animals.

The meat is cut into strips, drizzled with vinegar and covered in the cold for 6 to 8 hours, then rubbed with a seasoning mixture of brown sugar , saltpeter , coriander and pepper . The meat is then air-dried hanging for one to two weeks until it is half-dry and has lost 40–50% of its weight. Then it is wrapped in wax paper and kept cool.

A simpler method of biltong-making has traditionally been used for game, especially zebra meat . The meat, cut into strips, was rubbed with salt and then dried in the sun until it was rock hard. This meat then had to be cut into small pieces and pounded soft before consumption.

Half-dried biltong can be kept for three weeks, fully dried for about two years. The production of biltong in regions without dry air is possible with the help of a "biltong box", a heated and ventilated box in which the meat is hung up to dry.

Others

In 2013 a study carried out by the University of the Western Cape revealed that up to 90% of the goods produced in South Africa as venison biltong and declared accordingly, in addition to the species specified on the packaging, also meat from other animals such as B. Horse , giraffe , pig and kangaroo included. One sample also contained meat from the endangered mountain zebra . In contrast, all products declared as beef biltong actually consisted of beef only. Since 2010, biltong has also been allowed to be imported from EU countries.