meat , the new snack
Three producers beef up Manitoba ’ s jerky market
By Sarah Ens
Meat jerky is a quintessential summer snack , perfect for pulling from packs mid-portage , fueling cross-country road trips or sharing around campfires . It ’ s only been in the past decade , however , that Manitobans have had the option of pairing outdoor adventures with local , accessible , artisanal jerky .
Kanada Meat Snacks , a division of Eastend Meats and Sausage , was founded six years ago when owner Li Pan noticed the absence of Canadian jerky on grocery and convenience store shelves . Meanwhile , South African staple biltong has become a new local favourite thanks to two Manitoba producers , Taste of Africa and Mr . Biltong Beef Jerky Company .
Societies all over the world and throughout the ages have relied on preserved meat as a stable source of durable , portable protein . Archeologists found jerky in ancient Egyptian tombs , and Ancient Roman farmers made coppiette from dried horse or donkey meat . The word “ jerky ” itself originates in South America , from the Quechua ch ’ arki , cured and sun-dried or smoked alpaca and llama meat . Here in Manitoba , people
ate and traded pemmican , from the Cree word pimîhkân , made from dried and pounded bison , deer , moose , elk or fish meat mixed with fruit and melted fat .
Contemporary dried meat producers have preserved many of these methods . Kanada Meat Snacks is made from 100 % Canadian eye of round beef and cut into small pieces , marinated for 24 hours , then smoked with hickory . The hickory lends a unique , sweet flavour often associated with bacon .
Stuart Webb of Taste of Africa and Jeremy and Megan Silcox of Mr . Biltong make their meat snacks using methods over 400 years old . Dehydrated at low temperatures , biltong — Dutch for an animal ’ s rump ( bil ) and strip of meat or tongue ( tong )— retains much of its moisture , making it a significantly softer product than smoked jerky . Indigenous South African groups like the Khoikhoi invented the method , curing meat with salt and hanging it in large sheets to dry . Salt , pepper , coriander and vinegar make up today ’ s standard seasoning , though in South Africa , Webb says , “ every family has their own secret recipe ” with their own set of ingredients . When he moved to Canada twenty years ago and couldn ’ t source his favourite snack from the store , he turned to his grandfather ’ s recipe , a mix of herbs and spices passed down for generations . Taste of Africa Canadian beef biltong is hand cut into strips with the grain , marinated in spices and vinegar , then dipped into boiling water . The meat hangs in a dehydrator under UV light for about a week before it ’ s sliced across the grain into bitesized pieces . Authentic taste has earned
Photography by Kanada Meat Snacks , Taste of Africa , Mr . Biltong
22 ciao ! / summer / two thousand twenty-one