> Lorenzo writes:
>
> <<Go to primitive Mexico,  above the stove  a massive
stone
> hearth,  on a wire hangs meat being naturally smoked.>>
>
> Hi Lorenzo,
>   I believe I stated nitrites and nitrates as part of the
smoking process.
> Aside from that, I would think that smoking meats
denatures them.  It only
> makes sense to me that the more "live" a food is, the
shorter the "shelf"
> life.  It was probably a necessity at that time in order
to have meats more
> frequently.  I don't think we need to resort to that now.
>
> Siobhan

I think it was to keep the meat from rotting and to keep the
flies off.  This could have been going on for a long time.
I am sure it does not make the meat more nutritious.
Remember the Native American girl who escaped from her
captors with her baby and a horse.    She  killed the horse,
made it into jerky and walked several hundred miles back to
her tribe.

Lorenzo