... strips of dried beef are called "beef jerky"?
In the days when the West was being settled, meat was often cut into long, thick strips,
dried in the sun, and carried in saddlebags until needed for a meal. The name given to this meat was
charqui, a Spanish word meaning dried meat. When the meat was beef, the dried strips
were called "beef charqui," which was later pronounced -- and spelled -- "beef jerky."
