“4. M. Leon Soubeiran has recommended braying and drying, in the fashion adopted by the Chinese and Mongols, as described by M. Simon, French consul in China, in a communication made by him to the Société d’Acclimatation. The pemmican of our Arctic voyagers and the charqui of South America are familiar examples of meat preserved by analogous processes. The late M. Payen, a distinguished member of the Academy, insisted upon the great perfection to which this system might be carried by the aid of hot-air stoves and suitable apparatus.”
Besides the foregoing, numerous patents have from time to time been taken out, and processes proposed for the preservation of meat; so as to enable it to be sent from those distant countries, such as South America, Australia, Canada, &c., where it is greatly in excess of the wants of the population, to other lands, in which the supply is as much below the demand, and the meat at such a price as to preclude its being regularly used as an article of food by the body of the people.
As the putrefactive changes set up in dead flesh are dependent upon the combined influences of moisture, air, and a certain temperature, it follows that most of the various methods of meat preservation resolve themselves into so many different efforts to remove the meat from the operation of one of the conditions above specified as necessary for its decomposition.
The charqui or jerked beef of South America affords an example of meat preserved by
means of being deprived of moisture. It occurs in thongs or strips which have been prepared by placing freshly killed meat between layers of salt and drying them in the sun. Charqui, although it retains its soundness for a great length of time, and is rendered eatable by soaking in water and prolonged cooking, is difficult of digestion and wanting in flavour, and if any fat be associated with it, this is liable to become rancid.
Pemmican is meat which, after being dried and powdered, is mixed with sugar and certain spices, both of which assist to preserve the meat as well as to improve its flavour, and to remove the tendency to rancidity caused by any fat that may be accidentally present.
Another process for the preservation of meat by means of desiccation is that of MM. Blumenthal and Chollet, who, in 1854, obtained a patent for preparing tablets composed of dried meat and vegetables, which, after being several times dipped into rich soup, were dried in warm air after each immersion.
At a meeting of the Food Committee, held at the Society of Arts, in May, 1868, specimens of dried beef and mutton in powder, from Brisbane, were shown by Mr Orr, who said they had been dried on tinned plates by means of steam. Dr A. S. Taylor, F.R.S., who examined the sample, found it perfectly fresh and good. It had been prepared at least six months previously.
At a subsequent meeting, the Committee reported that the soup prepared from this desiccated meat, with the addition of a small quantity of vegetables, was considered very successful, and the Committee were of opinion that meat so preserved was likely to prove a valuable and cheap addition to the food resources of the people.
The specimen from which the soup was made had been in the Society’s possession, and formed part of the contents of a tin opened upwards of two years ago. The preservation was perfect.