Shoptalk

Biltong actually means "strip of buttock". They're thin slivers of beef that, like Parma ham, were traditionally dried in the warm African air, hanging from trees perhaps. One of the earliest convenience foods, they were just the thing when you were off on a journey or a day's hunting.

Now coated with a mixture of spices, they are a favourite snack across southern Africa. And craved by homesick ex pats. But Gary and Thomo hope that the native British will learn to love biltong, especially as it's made with 100 per cent pure Yorkshire silverside beefsteak.

"Everyone's so open to new ideas and tastes now, that the time seems right," says Gary, who developed a taste for the stuff while travelling in south Africa.

Gary and Thomo's biltong comes in tiny pieces of beef and spices. High in protein and low in carbohydrates, Dr Atkins would love them. They're available in original, chilli or garlic flavour.

Thomo is a food technologist, graduated from university in Reading and then worked for the National Food Technology Research Centre in Botswana, before returning to Britain to do her MSc at Nottingham.

Missing the taste of her native country, she made biltong in a small way herself. "For anyone from southern Africa, it's the real taste of home. These days, most people buy it ready-made, but when I couldn't buy it here, I had to make it," she says.

She had to make lots because friends loved it - many of them trying it for the first time. Then as part of her MSc thesis, she did a business plan on producing biltong commercially.

"And we thought, 'Yes, it could work,'" says Gary, who in between travelling the world - including visiting the North Pole and cycling and kayaking from London to Australia - had worked for a number of top British companies. "It's not just that British tastes are more adventurous but, also, we're snacking more and this is an ideal snack," he says.

So they came back up to Yorkshire to give it a go. Unfortunately, the trees on the Melmerby Industrial Estate are not picturesquely hung with bits of beef drying in the sunshine. Production is strictly and hygienically controlled in a large oven designed by Gary, which gently replicates the warm air of half a world away. The meat is air-dried for six days and then sliced into bite-sized shavings. Once packaged, it keeps for months without the need for refrigeration. "People find it difficult to work out at first that the meat isn't cooked, it's cured. We decided to use Yorkshire beef because, as well as supporting local producers, we wanted to know exactly where our beef was coming from and that it was the best we could get," says Gary. An authentic African recipe, made in Yorkshire from Yorkshire beef -definitely the best of both worlds.

l Bare Earth Biltong is available from a number of local shops and delicatessens, including Lewis and Cooper, Northallerton; Hunters, in Helmsley; Le Carolo, in Thirsk; and Drum, in Darlington.

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