Meet Brave Biltong, the Duo Behind a Northeast PA Cured Beef Company

Alexander Hankoff says he never expected he’d be the co-owner of a biltong company.

Hankoff and Iwan Zwarts are the founders of Brave Biltong, a South African-style beef biltong company made with locally sourced grass-fed beef and all-organic ingredients.

“We’re four or five ingredients, and that’s it, so it’s nice and simple,” said Hankoff.

The business idea began after years of making biltong for camping and cross-country motorcycle trips. As a South African, Zwarts learned how to make biltong as a kid from his father. In 2022, the duo took a motorcycle trip from southern Utah all the way up into Yellowstone National Park.

“At all of these different stops along the way, we would be at campsites or hang out at overlooks. We’d take out the biltong, cut off a little bit of a slab, and folks would always stop us and ask us what we were eating,” said Hankoff.

Their biltong is made from lean eye of round beef, cured in Bragg’s apple cider vinegar and Baja Gold salt, seasoned, and then air-dried under controlled temperatures for about a week at their operations in Tyler Hill, Pennsylvania.

Biltong is often confused for beef jerky, Hankoff says, but the two are quite different.

Biltong is air-dried and can have a texture more similar to prosciutto, whereas beef jerky is dehydrated and can sometimes have a more fibrous texture due to the dehydration process.

Hankoff says he especially enjoys it as charcuterie and in-between snacking.

For now, Brave Biltong offers two versions of their biltong: the Purist line – the original recipe sourced with salt, pepper and coriander – and the Bold – a chipotle ancho version for those craving a kick of spice.

You can find Brave Biltong at the Callicoon Farmers’ Market on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Image: Sliced biltong from Brave Biltong (Photo Credit: Brave Biltong)