Biltong Story

Khoisan are indigenous people of Southern Africa who lived in the bush as hunters as well as gatherers and led a nomadic life. After hunting wild animals such as kudu and springbok, they cured strips of meat with salt and dried them in the sun for purposes of preservation. The dried cured meat was called Segwapa in Tswana language. They ate the cured meat over a long period of time without using anything like refrigeration for preservation and yet it maintained its original taste and smell. In spite of high consumption of this cured meat, the Khoisan people look fit and they chase their prey with their feet when hunting.

 1938 photograph of a column of ox wagons in commemoration of the Great Trek in South Africa

In the 1700s, when the Dutch came to Cape Colony (now called Cape Town), South Africa, they added spices to the meat curing process and called the cured meats, “biltong”. In Dutch, “bil” is the fleshy part of the back with which one sits and “tong” means tongue, the shape into which meat was cut.

Between 1835 and 1854, over 12,000 Dutch rebelled against British Colonial administration and emigrated from the Cape Colony into the inland of Southern Africa in what is historically termed “The Great Trek”. During these travels, the Dutch carried lots of biltong in ox wagons, because it was portable, non-perishable and had sustenance. The biltong was a perfect nutritional solution for their long journeys.

Over the years, biltong has become a popular healthy meat snack in Africa.