JERKED BEEF

beef in long, thin strips dried in the air, with or without having been previously immersed in brine. The original jerked beef was unsalted. The word ‘‘jerked’’ comes from the Spanish-American charque-ar, JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, or Topinambour, the tuber of a species of sunflower, native to North America, somewhat resembling the potato in general characteristics but sweetish in flavor and more watery. The name ‘‘Jerusalem’’ is a queer twist from the Italian word girasole. There are two principal types—one long and with red skin, the other round, knobby, and white. They are generally boiled and pickled or eaten with vinegar, or made into soup, but some people enjoy them raw, eating them with salt, like radishes. Their food value is low, the large carbohydrate content being chiefly of inulin, which is only to a small degree convertible by the digestion.