Makes: approximately 3kg

Ingredients:

6kg beef (top round, round bolo, shoulder bolo, eye of round)

250g coarse salt

125ml (½ cup) brown sugar

15ml (1 tbsp) bicarbonate of soda

7.5ml (1 ½ tsp) ground black pepper

125ml (½ cup) dried coriander seeds, coarsely ground

125ml (½ cup) brown vinegar, decanted into a spray bottle

250ml (1 cup) water

250ml (1 cup) red wine vinegar

Method:

1. Cutting along the natural dividing lines of the muscles and always with the grain, cut the meat into strips about 2.5cm thick and any desired length.
2. Mix together the salt, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, pepper and coriander. Thoroughly rub the mixture into the strips of meat.
3. Layer the meat, with the bulkier pieces at the bottom, in a glass or plastic container, spraying the brown vinegar over each layer as you add them.
4. Leave the meat in a cool place for 12 hours or longer (depending on how salty you prefer it), then remove from the marinade.
5. Mix the water and red wine vinegar and dip the strips of meat into it. This makes the biltong shiny and dark.
6. Once this is complete, the biltong is ready to dry. Hang the strips on S-shaped hooks, or use pieces of string, about 5cm apart, in a cool to warm, dry area with an oscillating fan blowing over them. It is very important the air is dry because too much moisture will cause the meat to spoil.
7. The biltong is ready when the outside is hard and the centre is a little moist. Let the centre dry according to personal taste.
8. Cut the biltong against the grain into thin pieces using a very sharp knife.

Recipe and photo from A Taste of SA with The Kosher Butcher’s Wife'(Penguin Random House, R279). Joburg foodie Sharon Lurie’s third cookbook is another large collection of fresh food ideas that reflect her culinary heritage as a proud South African and Jewish cook.