The best meat in the world, according to Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist and influential scientist who lived in the 19th century. His famous work ‘The Origin of Species’ introduced the theory of biological evolution through natural selection. The image of Darwin etched in most people’s minds is that of an old man with a long white beard, but before that he was a young man who was not afraid to put unusual foods in his mouth. His diaries and books such as ‘Charles Darwin Correspondence’, edited by his son Francis, serve to discover the exotic meats that he tasted and which one he considered to be the best in the world.

During his time at Christ’s College, Cambridge University, between 1828 and 1831, Charles Darwin had a group of friends who met for dinner once a week and called themselves The Glutton Club (The Gluttons Club). Their initial goal was to make fun of another group of students who were part of a club called Látreis tis karamélas (Greek, Sweet Lovers). Between bets and challenges, Darwin and his companions began to taste “beasts previously unknown to the human palate.” They dared to dine on poultry such as the falcon, the bittern and the brown owl, which was not to the taste of the diners. “It had an indescribable taste.”Darwin indicated about the latter.

The naturalist left at the end of 1831 with Captain Robert FitzRoy aboard the HMS Beaglea ship that set sail on an expedition to explore and map the coasts of South America. The trip was intended to last two years, but was extended to five, a time during which Darwin was able to eat meats that he did not have access to in Europe.

The young Darwin, who was 22 years old when he began his journey, visited South America, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and different islands in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. During his journey through the American continent he met and devoured a multitude of species. The meat he liked best than all the others was that of “a large chocolate-colored rodent,” which could be that of a and. However, he indicated that the animal weighed about nine kilos, so it would probably be a capibara: “The best meat I have ever tasted”.

Charles Darwin left records of the different species he ate on his travels around the world. He was able to tour Patagonia on horseback with gauchos, who acted as guides, and, in addition to rodents, hunted rheas and deer. In South America tasted armadillo meatwhich he cooked over the fire without its dorsal shell and whose flavor he compared to that of a duck. He could also eat puma meatwhich he described as “one of the favorite dishes” of the region, and managed to shoot down a guanaco on another of his trips exploring the southernmost parts of the American continent.

The scientist explained in ‘Diary of a naturalist’s trip around the world’ that the members of his expedition They used to feed on turtle meat during his time in the Galapagos Islands: “While we remained in this upper region we ate nothing but turtle meat; The roast with its shell, like the meat with leather of the gauchos, was a very tasty snack, and the young turtles were used to make an excellent soup.”

In another passage he said that the islanders quenched their thirst drinking the contents of the bladders of these reptiles: “In a turtle that I saw killed, the liquid was entirely clear and only had a slight bitterness. However, the inhabitants always drink the pericardium water first, which is claimed to be the best.”