The Dried Meat That Every South African Abroad Secretly Packs in Their Suitcase

Sharing is caring!

Every South African who has ever moved abroad knows the moment. You land in a new country, settle into your new flat, and then one evening, out of nowhere, a craving hits you. Not for sunshine or Table Mountain. For biltong.

It seems absurd that a strip of dried, spiced beef could carry this much emotional weight. But for millions of South Africans living outside their homeland, biltong is not just a snack. It is a whole identity packed into a small brown paper bag.

A Survival Food That Became a Soul Food

Biltong was born out of necessity. Long before refrigeration, the indigenous Khoikhoi people of southern Africa were already curing meat in the sun and wind to preserve it for leaner seasons.

When Dutch settlers arrived in the 17th century, they quickly adopted the technique. The Voortrekkers who set out into the interior during the 1830s carried biltong as a staple. It was light, packed with protein, and kept for months without spoiling.

The word itself comes from Dutch: “bil” meaning buttock — the cut of meat — and “tong” meaning strip or tongue. Not the most elegant etymology. But honest, and entirely South African.

What Makes Biltong Different from Everything Else

People who have only ever tasted beef jerky sometimes assume biltong is the same thing. It is not.

Jerky is cooked or smoked at high heat, and tends towards chewy and sweet. Biltong is air-dried. The meat is first soaked in vinegar, then coated in a dry rub of salt, coriander, black pepper, and sometimes a touch of brown sugar. It hangs in dry air for several days, slowly losing moisture while developing a deep, layered flavour that no oven can replicate.

The outside turns almost black. The inside stays a deep burgundy — sometimes still slightly soft in the centre for what locals call “wet biltong”, or dried all the way through for snap biltong that shatters at first bite. South Africans argue passionately about which is better. This argument never ends, and that is part of the point.

The Art of the Spice Rub

Every South African family has their own biltong recipe. The coriander seed is non-negotiable — lightly toasted, then cracked between your palms, it forms the distinctive crust that defines biltong from first smell to last bite.

Beyond that, the variations begin. Some families add allspice or cloves. Some use chilli for a fiery kick. Others swear by a splash of Worcestershire sauce in the vinegar bath. At the braai, biltong is almost always passed around while the fire gets going — food that belongs perfectly to the ritual of patient waiting.

Game biltong — made from kudu, gemsbok, or springbok — carries a richer, wilder flavour that beef cannot replicate. In the Karoo, ostrich biltong has been made for generations. Along the coast, fish biltong is a salty, sharp delicacy that demands cold beer alongside it. There is a version for every region, every season, every story.

Enjoying this? 5,600 South Africa lovers get stories like this every week. Subscribe free →

The Diaspora Bond

Ask South Africans living in London, Melbourne, Dubai, or New York what they miss most about home. Biltong appears on almost every list — alongside bunny chow, boerewors, and the particular quality of a Highveld sunset.

South African deli shops have opened in cities across the world, doing a roaring trade among expats who queue for their weekly fix. Online suppliers ship vacuum-sealed bags across continents. Customs declarations, it is fair to say, get creative.

The relief when a family member arrives from Johannesburg or Cape Town with a bag tucked into their hand luggage is genuine and significant. There is something about biltong that carries the smell of home in a way nothing else quite manages. It is dried beef and spices. It is also grandmother’s kitchen, Friday afternoons, and the sound of the braai crackling outside in the dark.

A Food That Belongs to Everyone

What makes biltong truly remarkable is how completely it crosses South Africa’s many cultural lines.

Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaner, Cape Malay, Indian South African — everyone eats biltong. Every culture has their own preferred cut, their own opinions about moisture level, their own spice secrets passed down through families for generations.

In a country with a complicated and often painful history, biltong is one of the rare things that has always belonged to everyone equally. That, perhaps, is the most South African thing about it.

If you ever find yourself at a South African home — anywhere in the world — and a bowl of biltong appears on the table, accept it. Take your time with it. Notice the coriander, the vinegar tang, the deep warmth of pepper.

You are not just eating a snack. You are tasting 400 years of ingenuity, resilience, and the particular comfort of belonging. That is worth making the journey to South Africa to experience properly.

You Might Also Enjoy

• The Unspoken Rules of the South African Braai That Every Local Knows
• The Durban Dish Born From Injustice That Became South Africa’s Soul Food
• The Sweet That South Africa Can’t Agree On — and What That Tells You About the Nation

Plan Your South Africa Trip

Ready to taste biltong the way it was meant to be eaten — fresh from a deli in Cape Town, or cut straight from the hook at a Johannesburg market? Our Ultimate South Africa Travel Guide has everything you need to plan the trip of a lifetime.

Sharing is caring!