Interesting discussion of anthropology


(Bob M) #1

I thought this was quite interesting:

This is an interesting conversation with Dr. Bill Schindler, who is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

At one point, he discusses going to visit a hunter gatherer tribe to make what he thinks will be jerky. Instead, what they did was kill an animal (lamb?), take the parts off that had to be eaten, then basically “unwind” the animal into thin meat strips. They dried these. They also crushed the bones, and dried these. But instead of making “jerky”, they made soup. The dried meat would reconstitute, and the bones added flavor and nutrition to the soup. They then ate/drank the soup.

I thought this was brilliant and unexpected. I was expecting tallow, pemmican, jerky, etc. Instead, soup.


(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #2

It’s keto instant soup in a cup! Everyone appreciates convenience foods. If before a hurricane the stores ran out of dried lamb meat and bone packs instead of instant noodles, we’d be a healthier people.


(Rebecca ) #3

Interesting!! Thanks for sharing this!


(PSackmann) #4

Reminds me of a recipe I found in a Colonial cookbook for “pocket soup”. Basically, take a good thick broth and spread it out on layers of flannel to dry, then put the dried soup in a package. It can be carried in a pocket, and re-constituted using only hot water. Haven’t tried it yet, it’s on my bucket list.


(PJ) #5

That’s a great idea. Reconstituting it long later, the ultimate storage approach for whole-animal later eating I guess.


(Ken) #6

It’s easier to eat soup than jerky. Making pemmican is a lot of work since the dried meat has to be pounded into powder before mixing it with melted fat.

Did he mention if the soup was made in a metal pot? Before metal pots were.available, you had to heat stones up and drop them in hide bags of water. Pots were not available during the Paleolithic, pemmican was not only a food, you could keep your food long term, even years.


(Bunny) #7

One question I have that has always puzzled me in archeological anthropology:

Where did they get the metal pots to make the soup?

Perhaps clay, pottery, natural rock bowl formations, volcanic rock? I would think the original ancestral hunter gatherer or previous diet would have been pre-metallurgy not post-metallurgy? When researching this the issue of tubal cane always pops up?

Or like mentioned above heating up animal skin?


(Bunny) #8

So much for the no carb hypothesis?

“…Pemmican has historically involved drying strips of meat that has all the fat cut off, to which is added rendered animal fat, berries, and sometimes maple sugar, and salt. Done properly it is edible for years, if not decades, even when held at room temperature. …” …More

Lots of Maple trees in Canada and Upstate New York?

image

I luv pemmican, been eating it my whole life, it lasts forever!


(mole person) #9

@atomicspacebunny. This is what is referred to as “white man’s pemmican”. The European settlers didn’t relish the more traditional pemmican and began to add much more fruit, nuts, and sweeteners. The natives only used a few berries and only when they were in season. In fact there isn’t a lot of evidence that they used much at all until they began preparing it this way for trade with Eupopeans. All of these additions lower the shelf life of the pemmican.

I make pure beef + fat pemmican for our camping trips and I was surprised how it went from seeming super greasy and weird to being a snack that we look forward to when we are doing hard travelling days.


(Bob M) #10

I believe they used pots. This was not too long ago, as in years, so they had access to trade.

Pemmican is difficult. The version I buy from Wellness Meats only lasts about a week (they say), because they don’t dry the meat enough.


(Bob M) #11

She just looks for any excuse to imply we “need” carbs.


(Bob M) #12

By the way, I think one of the only times when someone who was carnivore got in trouble was by trying to live on pemmican. You miss out on certain vitamins (eg, Vitamin C) if you do that. Short term, sure. Long term? Not likely.


(mole person) #13

Yes. I’ve read this case too. Also, Steffanson, while describing the protective effects of fresh meat on scurvy, talks about a case of a gold miner getting it in spite of having plenty of dried meat. We know cooking can destroy vitamin C, I guess drying has a similar effect. Pemmican is made with dry meat.


(Bob M) #14

I always wondered what sous vide does? For instance, I sous vide steaks at 131 or so, for a while. I assume that, relative to quickly cooking to 131 in the oven/on the stove, there has to be a detrimental effect to this. I just can’t quantify it.


(mole person) #15

I’ve wondered the same thing. The meat stays rare but the fibres break down…which matters more?


(Bob M) #16

I was thinking more along the lines of vitamins. But it’s definitely tricky for time and fibers too. If you undercook, it can be tough. If you cook perfectly, it’s great. If you overcook, it’s mush.

I’ve been thinking of eating some meat rare, for this vitamin reason. But I have to wrap my head around that. We’ve been taught for so long never to eat anything rare.


(mole person) #17

I eat everything rare except chicken now.


(mole person) #18

This is a piece of rare strip loin beef roast and pork rib roast. Both were cooked in the oven for about 5 hours at about 160 F. Perfectly delicious and tender.

I sous vide almost nothing now. This technique gives the exact same effect of tender meat cooked to exact specifications of rareness but without all the juices ending up in a bag. The juice stays in the meat and it’s way, way better. I still use the sous vide for the very toughest cuts. The ones that take 48 hours in the sous vide I think are better left for that method.


(Bunny) #19

Please tell me who told you that we don’t need carbohydrates?

You tend to make blanket statements like this and provide nothing as to your sources?

I would really like to read this for myself?

I do know the human body does indeed need carbohydrates resistant to digestion to feed the microbiome.

Your going to be in ketosis irregardless if you eat carbohydrates or not …if your metabolically fit that is?

So there is no reason you cannot eat carbohydrates and maintain ketosis.

So eating just meat and only meat has no differences or advantages other than a choice between a whole food carbohydrate and protein/fat?

So I do not see where “excuse” comes in?

I make no “excuses” for eating whole food carbohydrates, I eat them because they are healthy and go with eating meat.

If I maintain the the primary ketone beta-hydroxybutyrate with resistant starch in my diet how is that not doing the same-thing as only eating meat?

So now, how is only eating meat superior?

Short answer it’s not!

It is equally to all low sugar diets! (the common denominator)