There are few people from the region who do not love their biltong, which is basically dried meat. The word comes from Dutch with BIL meaning buttock and TONG meaning strip. It has been around for centuries. For example, the Dutch tassal was also prepared in certain areas of France during the late Middle Ages. Tassal was also made in Batavia, and made its way to South Africa with the Dutch settlers where it was adapted to the less pungent biltong.

Ingredients

• 12.5 kg beef (top round or sirloin or London broil or eye of round)
• 560 g fine salt
• 125 ml brown sugar
• 25 ml bicarbonate of soda
• 10 ml salpetre (optional)
• 12.5 ml ground black pepper
• 125 ml coarsely ground coriander
• 250 ml red wine vinegar
• 2.5 liters warm water

Method

1. Cut the meat along the natural dividing lines of the muscles of the particular piece of meat you have chosen. Cut the meat into strips of about 2 " thick and as long as you like, always cutting the meat with the grain.
2. Mix the salt, sugar, bicarbonate of soda (this makes the biltong tender), saltpeter, pepper and coriander together and rub the mixture into the strips of meat.
3. Layer the meat – with the more bulky pieces at the bottom – in a non-reactive container and sprinkle a little vinegar over each layer.
4. Leave the meat in a cool place for 12 hours or more, depending on how salty you want the meat to be (you may need to experiment a little until you find the right time to let the meat ‘marinade’.
5. Mix the water and vinegar and dip the biltong into it (this makes it shiny and dark). Once this is complete, the meat is ready to dry. Pat the pieces of meat dry and hang them up on S-shaped hooks – or use pieces of string – about 2 " apart (so that the air can circulate freely among the strips of meat). There are many theories on how to dry biltong. Probably the most popular is to hang it in a cool, dry place with an oscillating fan blowing on it. It is very important that the air is dry. If there is too much moisture in the air, the meat will spoil.
6. The biltong is ready when the outside is hard, and the center part of the biltong strip is still a little moist. How dry or moist you allow the center to become is a matter of personal taste
7. Makes about 10 Kg