Liz just loves it… (From Living Northeast)

Liz just loves it…

12:05pm Tuesday 20th April 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

The new low-fat snack loved by everyone from lorry drivers to Liz Hurley will be at the Dales Festival of Food and Drink. Ruth Addicott finds out more about the latest craze for biltong.

FANCY some dried buttocks? It may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you’re looking for a tasty snack, but dried beef buttock, or biltong, is gaining an army of followers.

Yorkshire-based meat manufacturers Bare Earth specialise in South African meat and since they started selling biltong five years ago, demand has soared. It’s so popular, even former super-model Liz Hurley has got on board and asked the manufacturer to be the official supplier of her new low-fat jerky snack. It is currently stocked in Harrods.

Gary Quinn set up Bare Earth with his wife Thomo in 2003. As Thomo is originally from Botswana, they were already familiar with biltong. Both had a background in food production, and spotting a demand for low fat meat snacks in Britain, they decided to combine their skills, sell their house and build a factory, selling biltong as pocket-sized snacks at around £1.95 each.

At the start, they made and packed everything by hand themselves. But after sales increased, they had to move to bigger premises in Melmerby, North Yorkshire, and take on eight extra staff.

“We thought we were doing really well when we reached 100 kilos a week,” says Gary. “We’re now producing two tonnes.”

So who are these people with a penchant for dried buttocks? According to Gary, it varies. They supply local delis, independent retail outlets and garage forecourts, so it could be anyone from long distance lorry drivers looking for a slim-line substitute for a Yorkie, or healthconsicous foodies scanning the organic shelf in Waitrose.

Gary admits biltong isn’t the most appealing to look at, but says when people try it, they are “pleasantly surprised”. “The thing that surprises them most is that it tastes of beef,” he says.

It is traditionally dried in the open air in South Africa and he has had to adapt by installing a controlled airconditioning environment.

Gary has tried to raise its profile further by taking along samples and getting people to try it at food exhibitions and trade shows.

“People do pull a face when I tell them what it is,”

he says. “The general response is ‘oh god’, but once they’ve tried it they quite enjoy it and say it doesn’t taste as bad as it looks.”

“Kids often mistake it for chunks of chocolate and grab a handful, it’s quite amusing seeing their faces when they realise they’ve got a mouthful of dried meat.”

According to Gary, biltong tastes a bit like the “outside ends of a well-done roast”, but a bit more peppery.

He points out it can be used in pasta or as an alternative pizza topping as well as a snack, and is also keen to highlight the health benefits - it’s less than six per cent fat, made from natural ingredients and contains no artificial colorants or preservatives.

“Some people are put off by the fact it’s air-dried, but when you explain that salami, chorizo and a lot of hams aren’t cooked either, people are more willing to try it,”

he says.

Gary gets through about five packets of biltong a week (“probably more than I should”), and is now hoping there will be a new surge of interest this year with the World Cup in South Africa.

Bare Earth is hoping to capitalise further by branching out into ostrich and game biltong as well as beef.

Dried ostrich buttocks? “It’s tastier but a bit more chewy…”

■ Bare Earth Limited, 8 Hallikeld Close, Barker Business Park, Melmerby, North Yorkshire, HG4 5GZ. Tel: 01765-641824. info@bare-earth.co.uk