| Jerky was first introduced by the South American | | | | evolved to charqui. Most travelers preferred to pound |
| (Peru) native tribe called the Quechua (part of the | | | | the charqui between large stones and boil it in water |
| ancient Inca Empire) in 1550. The product (Ch'arki), was | | | | before eating. During ocean exploration and |
| boned and defatted meat (deer, elk, or buffalo) cut into | | | | colonization, the Spanish sailors stocked the pacific |
| slices and rubbed with salt. This meat was rolled up in | | | | islands with goats. What couldn't be eaten would then |
| the animal's hide for 10-12 hours and then sun dried or | | | | be cut into strips and hung in their ships to air dry. |
| smoked over fires. | | | | When the Spanish Conquistadors invaded the |
| In South America, the Native Americans ate sun-dried | | | | Americas, they were surprised to see the natives of |
| venison and buffalo called tassajo, which was made | | | | North America drying meat as well. Soon, the natives |
| with strips of meat dipped in maize flour, sun and wind | | | | adopted the Spanish term, Charqui, only adding their |
| dried, and then tightly rolled up into balls. North | | | | accent; the word "jerky" first came to be. |
| American Cree Indians mixed berries and suet (fat) | | | | North American Pioneers would first dry meat by |
| with pounded cooked meat and pressed into | | | | hanging it on the outside of their covered wagon sun |
| concentrated small cakes to make pemmican. | | | | drying (2-3 days). Another method was to build a |
| Biltong came from pioneering South African | | | | scaffold over a slow fire and smoke the strips. While |
| forefathers who sun dried meat while traveling across | | | | the heat and smoke would complete the process in |
| the African subcontinent. Folklore has it that African | | | | half a day, the smoking method required a stopover; it |
| tribesmen would place strips of venison under the | | | | wasn't long before awareness for disease and germs |
| saddles of their horses to tenderize and spice the | | | | became prevalent and smoking became the norm. |
| meat! Seasoning became a blend of vinegar, salt, | | | | Today jerky is made from thin strips of virtually any |
| sugar, coriander and other spices. | | | | meat or from ground or chopped and formed meat. |
| The Indians and early settlers dried meat primarily from | | | | Manufacturers spice and dehydrate the product; some |
| deer, elk or buffalo using salt, whatever spices they | | | | introduce smoke or using liquid smoke for flavoring. |
| had and sun drying. As the Spanish arrived, the name | | | | |