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Indigenous cultures the world over have rich traditions of ‘aging’ meat – letting meat hang around a while to be predigested by bacteria, who break it down into a form more digestible (and delicious!) to us. If one eats their aged meat raw, it is actually enzymatically enhanced, giving health benefits similar to sauerkraut. In the cool months one can hang meat outside to age for weeks without any spoilage or loss to insects, cutting chunks off for eating as they are needed – the texture and flavor of the meat evolving with age. In the summer months, however, flies and wasps can make short work of meat. Flies lay maggots that secrete their digestive juices onto the flesh giving it a rancid flavor/ spoiling it. Wasps consume surprisingly large quantities just by eating it up. So how’s one to age meat or simply put it aside for a few days in the summer? Bury it!
Rabbit ready to be aged/predigested/fermented!
That is what this space is exploring – skills and ideas that will help those of us on the journey towards becoming living creatures on living land.
