Last time I met food-producing family the Allshires, from Roscarbery, back in 2015, Maurice, the youngest, was 17 years old and planning to do a degree in food entrepreneurship in UCC.

Coming across biltong while taking part in a Crossfit* programme since then, he immediately thought of its potential as a new Roscarbery Recipes product.

That’s the family food brand established by his parents, Willie and Avril. His older brother, William, also works in the business.

Doing a charcuterie course at nearby Gubeen Farm a month before his Leaving Certificate made Maurice’s mind up completely and he changed tack and decided to join the family business immediately in order to develop the new biltong product.

“It was all fuelled by my own healthy food, healthy lifestyle passion,” he says. “I was going to do food entrepreneurship in UCC and while I got the course, I didn’t really want to spend another four years in school. A month later I’d brought in two biltong dryers from South Africa.”

Biltong is a dried beef snack that originated in South Africa and is a bit similar to American ‘jerky’, he says, but healthier and tastier.

“I started experimenting with recipes myself and then worked with a consultant from the UK for a few days last November (2016) to start off. It took a further 10 months to get everything ready for lift-off.”

The Allshires produce Caherbeg Free Range Pork, as well as selling sausage, rashers and pudding under the Roscarbery Recipes brand.

Getting the taste just right was very important to Maurice.

“I did a lot more testing because I wanted to try every type of a way of making it. I’m confident now that this is the best way to produce it, because I’ve tried everything else,” he says.

Certified Angus beef sourced from ABP Meats in Bandon is used in the making of the biltong.

“I could have got continental beef much, much cheaper, but we’re Angus people and I always set out with the ambition of creating the best possible product. To create the best, you have to start with the best.”

The packaging design process took much longer than anticipated, he adds.

“On paper everything was going to be much easier. Launch dates were set, then scrapped, but it all finally came together this summer.”

In a family where food awards have been plentiful, Maurice had the confidence to enter the snack category in the 2017 Blas na hEireann competition ahead of the launch of his first product.

“I entered the savoury snack category just because there was no category for biltong,” he says. “It’s a very broad category, so I was genuinely surprised to be told I’d been shortlisted and to get silver on the day was unbelievable.”

From the food value point of view, biltong has a lot going for it.

“It is over 50% natural protein. A big thing for me when I was doing the packaging design and developing the product was the craze with protein. With protein bars a lot of it is made out to be clean and healthy, but sometimes it isn’t. I saw a need for a genuine, healthy, clean product and that’s where biltong comes in.

“The nutrition level is high too – vitamins B3, B6, zinc, selenium, calcium, all occur naturally in it and beef also has lots of iron.”

To further ‘beef up’ the nutrient value of the product, Maurice hit upon the idea of adding dried seaweed supplied by the Laughing Oyster in Bere Island.

“Seaweed is incredible, it has all these astounding benefits like twice the Vitamin C of an orange and 10 times the calcium in milk. I thought it would be great to include it in my curing process, so I put it in when I’m marinating.”

The product is handmade and ready to eat: “The beef is cut into strips, spices are added in the curing and the dried seaweed in the marinade, and once it’s dried I cut it again into bite-sized pieces, smaller than a crisp.”

While biltong is a good snack for fitness enthusiasts, he believes it will have general appeal.

“Some people would say ‘eat it before a workout’, but it is also great for the general public as a convenient, healthy snack. In a service station you could buy your coffee and instead of buying a packet of crisps, buy a bag of biltong as it is a low-salt, healthy, savoury snack.”

One of the first stockists to take on the biltong was Scally’s SuperValu in Clonakilty.

“It has supported my family with everything they’ve done from the start so that’s a natural move. After that I’m hoping it’ll get into the SuperValu Food Academy and beyond.”

With the biltong now stocked in many SuperValu stores throughout Cork, as well as in independent stores in West Cork, Maurice will be doing tastings in shops himself in future.

“Although Mum and Dad have given me advice when I needed it and some financial backing, it’s been me doing everything from day one, so I’ll be out there marketing it. It’s been exciting and stressful – all I can say is that it has been a serious adventure so far.”

The firm’s website, www.roscarberyrecipes.ie, is being updated to include biltong and the product will be on sale through its website page, or you can also follow the business on Facebook and Instagram. CL

* Crossfit is a branded fitness regimen. Maurice participates in a similar programme at Howling Heart Fitness in Clonakilty.