Charqui

Charqui is a Quechua word for the ancient Andean practice of wind-drying meat to preserve it, predating the Spanish by thousands of years. In Argentina's northwest, in Jujuy and Salta above 3,000 metres, the air is dry and the sun fierce, a natural dehydrator. Meat (beef or llama) is sliced thin, heavily salted, and sun-dried for 3 to 5 days until completely dehydrated and hard as wood. The finished product lasts months without spoiling. Before eating it is soaked to rehydrate, then shredded into stews, stir-fried, or chewed as a snack.

Thin, dry, intensely salty strips of sun-dried meat, fibrous and chewy, with a concentrated meat flavour. Rehydrated in stews it melts into the broth; eaten dry it is a tough, savoury chew.

The technique is salt-and-sun dehydration. Meat is sliced thin against the grain, heavily salted, and laid in the intense high-altitude sun for 3 to 5 days. Salt draws moisture via osmosis while the dry, thin mountain air evaporates it faster than it can spoil. Cold nights and UV-rich sun further inhibit bacteria. Before eating, the meat is soaked in water to rehydrate, then shredded into stews or fried. The technique predates the Inca.