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Keerbergen
Belgium April 8, 2006  Hello and welcome to our newsletter for April!
My daughter who lives in Singapore came to London last week and told me that she found it very cold. Well, I suppose that compared to tropical climates, it is cold in Europe 90% of the time. But it is full of colour and flowers again outside.
Thank you to all who voted
Well, that’s it from me. Enjoy the rest of the newsletter especially the input from some of our readers and the story about Eva Jordaan in Iceland. Come on guys and dolls. Tell us what it’s like there by you. Everyone would love to hear from you! Till next month, All the best, Lo
 Eva Jordaan from Iceland is a very enterprising lady, probably the most successful budding Biltong Factory owner we know about and certainly the only one in Iceland, of all places!Last year Eve bought two of our Rockey 5kg Home Biltong Makers, an industrial shredder and a heap of spices. Eva’s plan was to make and sell Biltong in Iceland!
We all thought (without much conviction); good luck to her, let’s hope it will work. Little did we know what her plans were! Last month the first pictures started coming in and we were totally flabbergasted. Here was an entrepreneur who had set up a small factory, went through the difficult process of getting licenses, complying with health authorities and you name it, she’s done it! It is a pity we can’t show all the pictures but the ones we do have here tell their own story! After Eva sent us the pictures we wrote back to compliment her on her achievements. And so a couple of mails later we had most of the story about what Eva is planning! Eva writes: Thank you for the compliment. I have to have the set-up like a full blown meat processing factory as the Icelanders are very, very strict on hygiene. There is nothing more that I would like than to hang the meat from the rafters in my house but that is not allowed of course.
When Paul and I visited South Africa last year in September we went to so many different Biltong shops and places were it was being made and we looked at each other and said: “If we could do it this way in Iceland I would have enough money (1,200 miljoen Icelandic Krone) just to purchase meat and we would not have to spend the money on getting a factory set-up as we have had to do.” The rules and regulations for this kind of business seem to be almost non-existent in South Africa. We even had to re-paint the house from top to bottom and side to side with special paint for buildings being used for meat processing, hotels kitchens etc. The meat taste is so great here (it is basically organic) that the spices needed are minimal. I found through experimenting that I basically only need black pepper and coriander to get the best taste from the meat.
Last night we had a meeting regarding this exhibition to elect a chairperson to handle all the organizing etc. At this meeting I presented the biltong packed in little 80 gram white packets and the people could not stop eating! The Mayor of our little town even spoke to the TV crew that visited our neck of the woods to make recordings of why the people are leaving the smaller towns for the Capital, about me and they wanted an interview on the spot. So there I was, no make-up and not dressed to kill and talking to the Press! Now I can also say I have been on TV! The best thing is that the whole of Iceland is going to see us and the product that is going to hit this country and take it by storm. Speak soon, Eva
Since then Eva has taken delivery of a huge industrial vacuum packing machine. We will keep you informed!!
FOR SALE
The Kalahari Bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
The Kalahari Bar is unique and the first authentic Southern African bar in the U.S.A. It includes many Antique Décor and Memorabilia from Africa.
This is a possible opportunity for someone wanting to move to the U.S.A.
The Biltong maker and the spice work like a dream. Both my daughter and I feel that our homemade Biltong is by far superior to the biltong that local butchers here in the UK sell. Regards Brian Egglestone
Details on ROCKEY’S 5kg Home Biltong Maker can be found by clicking on this link.
You can have a look at the BILTONG BUDDY here.
We are holding our prices for ONE MORE MONTH despite a 20% price increase in South Africa due to a massive increase in raw materials! The new prices from next month will be as follows: Rockey’s New Age Home Biltong Maker R 950.00 SO, MAKE USE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY IN APRIL ……….. Rockey’s New Age Home Biltong maker will still cost only R 795.00 instead of R 850.00 Click here to go to our on-line shop.
Many people have been writing to us over the years, where they could find a meat cutting chart.
With the demise of the old “Meat Board” during all the changes in South Africa their cutting charts seemed to have disappeared as well. The organization replacing the Meat Board is Samic (South African Meat Industry Company) and they have some very old cutting charts that can be accessed from their web site. However, it is such a mission to find the charts that we have downloaded them on to the Biltongmakers web site. So, just click on the one you want to see. Important notice!! It was brought to our notice that some people try to use a higher wattage and different shape globe than supplied with the Biltong Makers. They do this to try and decrease the drying time. Not only does this not work but it it also dangerous!
If we have not given an answer and you can help these people could you please mail them? (Please copy us in on your mails at info@biltongmakers.com so we can help other people who might have the same questions in the future) QUESTION I live in Finland and I spoke to our local butcher, if you can call him that! The shops here are not like in South Africa. Kind regards ANSWER Perhaps you could contact Arnfin who stays in Norway. He has been making biltong in his biltong maker since 2000! – Ed This is what he says Just to let you know that my first batch of Biltong was a great success. It was made of fresh frozen roe-deer (similar to Springbok). Arnfin Seldal
I seem to be having a bit of a problem regarding the sweetness of the finished biltong product. It tastes like American Jerky and it is terrible! Kindest regards,
I’m looking at making my own Boerewors from home for myself. I need to buy the equipment to do this, but don’t know where to find it. Thanks in advance.
Hello, I have been making biltong for some time now and have tried different recipes but I can’t seem to get the biltong quite right. Sorry to read the news of your good friend’s passing. Kind regards,
Can one make chicken biltong and if so, are there any recipes for it? Regards
Madiba and Mrs Ball’s in battle of the icons
By James Clarke  My invitation to readers to write down what they considered to be our 10 most appropriate national icons brought in a gratifying flurry of entries.
The three most commonly suggested icons were: Madiba, Mrs Ball’s Chutney and biltong! Then came braai; boerewors; proteas; Castle beer; Klippies en Coke; the national flag, the sun (sunny days). Amazingly only one reader mentioned the springbok. Barbara Christie suggested: Madiba’s shirt; shack with satellite dish; fynbos; healthy fruit; marauding baboons; vuvuzelas; big mamas (the South African matriarch); Cape Town; Patricia Lewis; potholes (big enough to fish in). Eshaana Bapooo of Springs: Beaded doilies (covering tannie’s milk jug); melktert; biltong (which everybody smuggles through customs); painted ostrich eggs; naartjies; Yebo gogo (who hasn’t used this at least once?); Ryk Neethling; loveLife billboards (that make no sense whatsoever); Mrs Ball’s Chutney; Klippies & Coke.
Tony Thacker wrote: “Since Desmond Tutu turns up so often perhaps we could have his nose declared a World Heritage Site?” Herbie Neilson’s list: Table Mountain; ox wagon; gold-mine headgear; lion kill; braai, beer and biltong; takkies; beach at sunrise; pipe-smoking Xhosa woman; Oriental Bazaar; protea. Bridget Ballard listed things her daughter misses since emigrating to New Zealand: Ouma rusks; Mrs Ball’s chutney; biltong; Highveld thunderstorms; our fabulous record-breaking cricket team (Bridget must have written this immediately after the famous 50-overs match); Madiba; bi-lingual soapies; our 12 public holidays a year; mine dumps; sandy shores. Nick and Des Andrew: a stoep (your column too!); first class rugby; Table Mountain; Castle beer; John Robbie; open road; black faces; Chappies bubblegum; bare feet; game reserve.
Ramohau of Clocolan says: If one is fortunate enough to live in the Eastern Free State these 10 icons are all around us: Sunrise over the Malutis; cherry blossom time; autumnal coloured poplars; beautiful sandstone home; sunset; Basotho hat; golden wheat fields waving in the breeze; ice-cold draft beer; snow on the Malutis; a traffic cop’s speed gun. Among icons suggested by Rikjan Scott, in London were: the sweet smell of wet tarmac after a Highveld thunder storm, Johnny Clegg, Kwaito music, Mrs Ball’s Chutney, jacarandas in bloom and Mandela’s little dance. Jannis Rodrigues included: the braai, Klippies and Coke (or Tassies), alcoholic oranges at rugby and cricket matches. Among items suggested by Grahamn Haiden, an expat now in Auckland, New Zealand, were: a braai; Mrs Ball’s Chutney; game biltong (not beef) and a Highveld storm. Rob Marshall of Ermelo included Nelson Mandela, Ernest Oppenheimer, Gary Player, a gold mine, the Zulu people and Mrs Ples (the Taung Child would have been even better). And the winners (of R100) are… Gerrit and Ann de Villiers of Alberton from last month. Their list was:
So be warned, don’t ever bite a mosquito.
For the citrus sauce:
Now, how to go about it….. The Sauces For the Garlic Sauce you simply mix all the ingredients together. The Cray Fish
I must say I`m really glad to be receiving your newsletter every month. My husband and I are always looking forward to reading the newsletter. It makes life in this cold and as it seems constantly grey Germany a bit more bearable! We`ve been in Germany for approximately 6 years now and my husband has a great job BUT it is so hard finding REAL friends in this country. It seems near to impossible to us. It is just not the same! DIS NET NIE SUID AFRIKA NIE !!! We miss our fellow South Africans a lot. Because our two sons go to school here and have adjusted very well we just have to stick it out here BUT we will always stay homesick. Luckily we have you to brighten up our lives a little bit with this Newsletter. We have bought the Biltongmaker and are really glad we did! A little bit of home away from home. Thanks!!!! We would love to hear from other South African families living in Germany. So if some of you would like to write me an e-mail, your more than welcome. Maybe we’ll even have a Braai together. Pap en sous en Boerewors…geen probleem! Manuela Wilkat
Oud-Matie Reünie in België
Kontak Alison by: Groete.
Old-Matie Reunion in Belgium
Contact Alison at: Regards
Coetzee takes Australian citizenship Nobel Prize-winning South African author J M Coetzee has become an Australian citizen. Adelaide, Australia, Nobel Prize-winning South African author J M Coetzee became an Australian citizen on Monday, saying he had been attracted by the country’s “free and generous spirit”. Coetzee was born in South Africa in 1940 and his writing, which won him the Booker Prize twice as well as the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature, reflected the sufferings of a country torn by the racial policy of apartheid. He retired as an English professor at Cape Town University in January 2002, a post he had held since 1984, and moved to South Australia where he is an honorary research fellow with the University of Adelaide’s English department. Coetzee became a citizen on Monday at a special ceremony conducted by Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone. He said he had been drawn to Australia since his first visit 15 years ago. “I did not so much leave South Africa, a country with which I retain strong emotional ties, but come to Australia,” he was quoted as saying by the national AAP news agency. A tremendous compliment! “I came because from the time of my first visit in 1991, I was attracted by the free and generous spirit of the people, by the beauty of the land itself and, when I first saw Adelaide, by the grace of the city I now have the honour to call my home.” Vanstone said Coetzee’s decision to become an Australian citizen was a tremendous compliment to the country. “We take pride in our diversity and our ability to live harmoniously with one another,” she said. “In Australia we value basic rights – democracy and equality under law and equality of treatment and opportunity. “Our strength as a nation flows from our joint commitment to these shared values. It is important that in these challenging times that Australian citizenship continues to unify us.”
You’ve got it all wrong about George Bush! (See last month’s newsletter) It was an innocent Brazilian civilian – no crime committed – but it took about nine dum-dum bullets to the head and thereabouts to kill him by Britain’s Finest. All now being desperately swept under the carpet to protect Britain’s wretched, lying and thoroughly immoral government. Sorry to introduce a note of reality into your always thoroughly enjoyable newsletter, but keep it up. Best regards
I need to correct you on one point mentioned in your newsletter of March 2006. John Maher
Live Well – Laugh Often – Love Much
Black Caps arrive for Test series. Top six owe Proteas tons of runs. Campese may work with the Boks. A blueprint to resuscitate SA rugby.
-Where can you watch rugby on TV?-
Click here to find out where in most countries!
As a South African orientated web site we are constantly looking to contact more and more South Africans across the world.
Not only to tell them about how they can make their own Biltong but also to give them a chance to share their stories with other South Africans the world over.So, here is your chance to help us. If you know about a South African family or friend living near you or perhaps somewhere far away, why not tell them about us and then us about them. If the response we receive is large enough and, directly due to your efforts people place orders with us, you could be rewarded by receiving one of our products totally free of charge. What an easy way to perhaps get your own Home Biltong Maker without having to pay a cent for it! You can mail us at info@biltongmakers.com During the last month many people went to the trouble once again of submitting their friend’s and family’s names and we would like to thank all!
Now that we are already well into the new year it would be nice to get some contributions for the newsletter from all our readers. Many people are subscribed to our newsletter and many more are joining every day. Mostly they do so because they enjoy reading it and like to hear from people in other parts of the world. They would love to hear from you too!! Why not put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard!), and tell us about anything interesting. About life in your part of the world, what you do and how you live. Perhaps something that happened to you. Perhaps you have some advice to give? Of course it does not have to be about Biltong or food. Anything that is of interest is welcome! Share it with other people around the world!
The first batches for 2006 have been made and delivered and there is ample stock at the butcher’s and in our freezers as well. We’ve had some on the braai already and you could smell it from a mile away! Lovely!! If you want some boeries on your first barbecue of the season call us now on +32 (16) 53.96.25 or mail us at info@boerewors.be
Potjiekos, as it is known in South Africa, is a fun way of entertaining. It takes 3-5 hours to prepare and make a “Potjie” (depending on what you cook) and then you can tuck in and enjoy it. This includes everything from the “Potjie” itself to the plates and eating utensils. For an extra € 2.00 we even make the Pap! For venues more than 50km from our home base in Keerbergen there is a small transport fee.
Booking is essential and you can do so on +32 (16) 53.96.25 or email us!
(Please note that our “Potjiekos” can only be done outside because we cook on gas or coals!)
Lamb on the Spit is a way of entertaining as only known by very few mainly because it is thought to be very expensive. Not so!
Together with the lamb we will treat you to a big pot of curried potatoes as well as a choice between a pasta salad or three-bean salad. Garlic or bread rolls are included as well. We have already received many bookings for the months of May and June. If you are planning a function or party with a lamb on the Spit in mind it is advisable to book early. Remember that we are doing these functions only during weekends.
Booking early is essential and you can do so on
+32(16) 53-9625 or email us. -May and June 2006 are almost booked out-(As with our “Potjiekos” a Lamb on the Spit can only be done outside because we cook on coals!)
You can click on the links below to view some of the previous issues of our newsletter.
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I have to have a license and this I only get once the Health Inspector has made his inspection of the work environment and the producing method of the product also the product itself.
On the 10th of March I was told about a Exhibition which is going to take place on the 5-7th May 2006.
You too could be making your own Biltong in a very short space of time.
Dr H Denis Solomons of Highlands North had an interesting variety: veldskoene; khaki; safari suits; Mrs Ball’s Chutney; waterblometjie bredie; the Hillbrow Tower; biltong; dassie; African rock python(!); Jock of the Bushveld.
Patricia King of Parkview: Cape Town Castle; Table Mountain; Augrabies Falls; pot-bellied men in shorts; well-heeled men in shoes without socks; goldmine dumps; biltong; boerewors; Kruger Park; Namaqualand flowers.
You have been warned…
Gradually add the butter or margarine, beating the sauce constantly as you do so.
Our Country Boerewors has already proven to be as popular as last year (and all the years before)!
