A huge chunk of meat is a comestible obtained by zapping a boulder with a spell of stone to flesh. As an ordinary comestible, a huge chunk of meat can be safely eaten any number of turns after it is created. Contrast this with corpses, which only last 50 turns before becoming unsuitable for eating. As such, a huge chunk of meat becomes valuable as a safe source of nutrition. Carnivorous pets, however, have insatiable appetites and no consumption limits. A huge chunk of meat will ensure they won't starve while you're occupied with activities that won't generate corpses for them.