One of the things we love about our world travels is the chance to sample local cuisine, especially street food where the flavors tend to be more authentic. Among our favorite foods to explore are jerky and dried meats.

To most people, the word jerky brings to mind a salty beef snack-food, the enjoyment of which may come at the risk of losing a tooth or two. But we’ve discovered a few variations that were delightfully tender, succulent, and bursting with flavor.

Over the years, we kept notes on the ones that were especially captivating and scrumptious. Working in our home kitchen, we tried to recreate the savory, aromatic, and tender jerky that we found so addictive. So, we made jerky — lots of jerky. We experimented, measured, tested, sampled, and tweaked over and over again in a process that stretched into years. Well, I mean we did other things too, like work and stuff, but it still took years. Finally, at around batch number 202, we landed on the magic formula that was to become Charqs.

And now, we offer you a chance to try this new taste sensation. It will change the way you think about jerky.