Biltong Often, 200 g of beef are required to make 100 g of biltong, and the process of making biltong preserves most of the protein content. Some biltong can have up to 67% protein content. Biltong's popularity has spread to many other countries, notably Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United States which have large South African populations, and also to India. Biltong is also produced within South African expatriate communities across the globe, for example in Germany, Ireland and even South Korea. Biltong produced in South Africa may not be imported into Britain, according to rules
Cured fish in "salt gardens" in Greece and dry salt curing and smoking of meat were well established. The Romans (200 BC) acquired curing procedures from the Greeks and further developed methods to "pickle" various kinds of meats in a brine marinade. It was during this time that the reddening effect of salting was noted. Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) is mentioned as being gathered in China and India prior to the Christian era for use in meat curing... In Medieval times, the application of salt and saltpeter as curing ingredients was commonplace and the reddening effect on meat was attributed to saltpeter." Salt