SMACKS OF LOCAL FLAVOUR

The best way to get through a nail-biting rugby match is with a snack or two in one hand, and a beer in the other

Joburg foodie Sharon Lurie’s third cookbook, A Taste of SA with The Kosher Butcher’s Wife, is another large collection of fresh food ideas. Very tempting are the many snack recipes including one for her famous biltong — and just in time to make your own for the upcoming Rugby World Cup.

Lurie has combined the influences of her culinary heritage as a proud South African and kosher cook — with many recipes for upcoming Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration at the end of September — in her new cookbook.

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.

Mix the salt, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, pepper and coriander together. Rub the mixture thoroughly into the strips of meat. 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.

Leave the meat in a cool place for 12 hours or longer (depending on how salty you prefer it), then remove from the marinade.

Mix the water and red wine vinegar and dip the strips of meat into it.

This makes the biltong shiny and dark. 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 that the air is dry because too much moisture will cause the meat to spoil.

The biltong is ready when the outside is hard and the centre is still a little moist.

Let the centre dry according to personal taste.

Cut the biltong against the grain, into thin pieces using a very sharp knife.