About Biltong

AIR DRIED CURED BEEF – MEANING ‘STRIP TONGUE’

DUTCH SETTLERS WHO ARRIVED IN SOUTH AFRICA IN THE 17TH CENTURY CREATED THE ORIGINAL RECIPES FOR DRIED MEAT, AND THE WORD ‘BILTONG’ WAS BORN.

If you are concerned about cancer, skip the braai but enjoy the biltong so say researchers at the University of the Orange Free State in South Africa. In a paper published in the S.A. Medical Journal back in 2004 they described the results of a battery of tests on 9 volunteers who were fed a biltong enriched diet over 5 days.

At the end of the speech, they said, ‘This study demonstrated that with regard to pro-carcinoma genic content, meat is safer when eaten dried, as in biltong, prepared the traditional way’.

The diet was a significant factor in cancer risk and chemical compounds that could lead to cancer formation produced by high temperature cooking of animal proteins. First of all, biltong apparently does not contain the chemical that can be converted to cancer radicals by enzymes in the body, so the study concluded.

The research team were of the conclusion that Biltong is a food worth promoting because of its health value in reducing the risk of cancer.
The finding was an indication that attention should be given to promote and to make more use of Traditional food recipes.