Cowboys eat it
Because all the moisture remaining in jerky is bound up one way or
another against bacteria, you can take a piece of jerky roll it around on
the ground, just leave it for half an hour and its perfectly safe to eat.
Any pathogenic bacteria that may have contaminated it will die because
jerky is a hostile environment for them. That's why you see those cowboys
pull a hunk of unwrapped jerky out of their saddlebag and just start
chewing, and they never get sick.
Spainish
History
The name jerky is actually derived from the Spanish word,
"charqui". During the days of ocean exploration and colonisation,
the Spanish sailors would stock the islands in the pacific with goats, who
would of course breed.
On subsequent or return journeys the sailors would call in and restock
their meat supplies from these goats, what couldn't be eaten would be cut
into strips and hung from the rigging of their ships and dried, this they
called charqui.
American
Indian History
When the Spanish Conquistadors invaded the America's naturally they
carried their dried meat with them.
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The natives of North America of course had been drying meat since time
immemorial, however when the invaders arrived and were seen to use a
similar process, the natives adopted the Spanish term, only adding their
accent, so it became jerky
It
Tastes Great!
Today we don't depend on jerky for survival as they did in the past
but we still eat it for many of the same reasons.
* Its tastes great.
*Its very filling and satisfying.
*It is extremely low in fat or sugar, so it makes an ideal healthy snack
and diet food.
*Its lightweight and needs no special storage.
The one reason for eating jerky that I'm not sure the ancients were aware
of though, and it's the one reason a lot of people eat it today. It goes
really well with a beer.
So if you haven't enjoyed the experience of eating jerky yet, go out and
get some you'll probably be surprised. If you tried it once but weren't
too sure about it, go out and get some Billabong Jerky, you'll probably
change your mind. If you already eat and enjoy jerky, good on you, but
don't keep it a secret let the world know
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