Everything about Pemmican totally explained
Pemmican is a concentrated mixture of
fat and
protein used as a nutritious emergency foodstuff. The word comes from the
Cree word
pimîhkân "pemmican", which itself is derived from the word
pimî "fat, grease".
Traditional preparation
Traditionally pemmican was prepared from the lean meat of large game animals such as
buffalo,
elk or
deer. The meat was cut in thin slices and dried over a slow fire, or in the hot sun until it was hard and brittle. Then it was pounded into very small pieces, almost powder-like in consistency, using stones. The pounded meat was mixed with melted fat with a ratio of approximately 50% pounded meat and 50% melted fat. In some cases, dried fruits such as
saskatoon berries,
cranberries,
blueberries, or
choke cherries were pounded into powder and then added to the meat/fat mixture. The resulting mixture was then packed into "green" rawhide pouches for storage.
Dog pemmican
British arctic expeditions fed a type of pemmican to their dogs as "sledging rations". Called "
Bovril pemmican" or simply "dog pemmican", it was a beef product consisting of 2/3 protein and 1/3 fat, without carbohydrate. It was later ascertained that although the dogs survived on it, this wasn't a healthy diet for them, being too high in protein.
Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1916 expedition to the antarctic resorted to eating dog pemmican when they were stranded on ice for the winter.
Boer War
In Africa,
biltong was commonly used in all of its forms, but during the
Second Boer War (1899-1902), British troops were given an
iron ration made of four ounces of pemmican and four ounces of chocolate and sugar. The pemmican would keep in perfect condition for decades, even in sacks worn smooth by transportation, and thus it was considered much superior to biltong. This iron ration was prepared in two small tins (soldered together) which were fastened inside the soldiers' belts. It was the last ration pulled and it was pulled only when ordered by the commanding officer. On this a man could march thirty-six hours before he began to drop from hunger. The British Army Chief of Scouts, the American
Frederick Russell Burnham, made pemmican a mandatory item carried by every scout.
Modern commercial usage
The brand name
Pemmican currently refers to at least two unrelated food products marketed primarily for outdoor enthusiasts in Canada and the United States.
- A brand of beef jerky, based in Omaha, Nebraska and owned by ConAgra.
- High-energy food bars sold under the brand names MealPack and Bear Valley Pemmican by Intermountain Trading Co. Ltd. in Albany, California. These bars are baked from malted corn and barley (with no meat). Bear Valley Foods was threatened with a lawsuit over the use of the Pemmican name, by a multinational corporation (presumed to be ConAgra); however, they were ultimately allowed to keep the name.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Pemmican'.
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