Sausage-Jerky in Beverly Hills?

It seems like the last meat product you'd think of when shopping in the upscale confines of Beverly Hills, but the L.A. Times has some news for us.

A 60-year-old, meat-and-sausage shop in Beverly Hills is very popular for its South African-style sausage and jerky:

By 10 on a brisk Saturday morning, the retro aluminum-lined glass butcher case at the European Deluxe Sausage Kitchen is already cloudy with fingerprints.

. . . Troub and the Sausage Kitchen's previous owner, Willie Kossbiel, are matter-of-fact about the seemingly mysterious debut of these African specialties. Thirty years ago, a representative from the South African Consulate General's office (located two miles northeast of the shop) asked Kossbiel to consider making the hometown favorites that expats were craving.

. . . "All I know is you can find South Africans there before road trips or a game of rugby," says consul Etienne van Straaten, who recently picked up some biltong for a family camping trip to Sequoia National Park.

If you read the article, you'll find out what the Afrikaans word for jerky ("biltong") actually means.