Pemmican?

[Abbe Osram]

I would like to make myself some Pemmican
does anyone have a recipe for it?

cheers
Abbe

:chill:

[tomtom]

What is it..? does it go by anyother name.. i have never heard of it.

[Bushmaster]

I'll be trying this recipe out next week. The recipe came from the book "The
Spirit of the Harvest".

Pemmican

Servings: 6

2 cups buffalo jerky or beef jerky, shredded
1 cup dried chokeberries or tart red cherries, chopped
6 TBSP tallow(beef fat) or butter, melted

Combine all ingredients and form into 6 patties. Refrigerate until serving.
:wave:
Geoff

[Abbe Osram]

I'll be trying this recipe out next week. The recipe came from the book "The
Spirit of the Harvest".

Pemmican

Servings: 6

2 cups buffalo jerky or beef jerky, shredded
1 cup dried chokeberries or tart red cherries, chopped
6 TBSP tallow(beef fat) or butter, melted

Combine all ingredients and form into 6 patties. Refrigerate until serving.
:wave:
Geoff

thanks mate I knew someone here would know.

cheers
Abbe :chill:

[Bushmaster]

You're very welcome :wave: :wink:
Geoff

[Ridge Runner]

What is it..? does it go by anyother name.. i have never heard of it.


I believe it was the trem used to describe the dried meat that Arctic explorers carried with them.

We mostly call it "Jerky" here, but you can buy Pemmican in any grocery store in the northern states.

I love the stuff and make my own.

[Carcajou Garou]

Old style pemican: 1/2 dried meat pounded into 1/2 rendered fat by weight, with seasonal berries added if available. Sealed in leather "parfleche" and used for long travels along with parched corn. The Metis in the Manitoba's used to sell pemican to the Hudson's Bay Company to feed the the Yorkshire Men in the Yorkshire boats that later transported the furs to the Hudson's Bay. This was during and after the "Voyageurs" and the fight between the Hudson's Bay Co. and the Norwester's Co. based in Montreal. Excellent fare for travel at that time bland and tiresome by today's taste but did the job.
just a thought

[Abbe Osram]

Old style pemican: 1/2 dried meat pounded into 1/2 rendered fat by weight, with seasonal berries added if available. Sealed in leather "parfleche" and used for long travels along with parched corn. The Metis in the Manitoba's used to sell pemican to the Hudson's Bay Company to feed the the Yorkshire Men in the Yorkshire boats that later transported the furs to the Hudson's Bay. This was during and after the "Voyageurs" and the fight between the Hudson's Bay Co. and the Norwester's Co. based in Montreal. Excellent fare for travel at that time bland and tiresome by today's taste but did the job.
just a thought

thanks mate for the historical background cool info!!!
:chill:
Abbe

[ChrisKavanaugh]

Jerky will have a minimal moisture content. True pemmican holds virtually none. This is what made it remain fresh, even after years if stored safely. The recipes using jerky are fine. The stuff is so tasty storage is seldom a problem.

[brucemacdonald]

A couple of years ago my wife and I made some of our own using dried beef and dried blueberries. We experimented with lard and with suet. By far the more successful was the batch with suet; the lard batch was unpleasantly greasy. The taste was "interesting" - any kind of seasoning would improve the flavour no end.

Ours probably had too much moisture in it though as eventually it succumbed to weevils in our larder. :yikes:

In Ray Mears' original book he mentions that one recipe used by the Native Americans involved cherries with the stones left in.

A google on "pemmican" will yield loads of recipes, but British bushcrafters should bear in mind that most of the recipes are written in American English so like us, you may find some interpretation problems (eg a "cup" is not a standard UK measure).

Best of luck - have fun making it.


Bruce

[brucemacdonald]

I meant to say, that biltong (African jerky) is becoming more easily available over here in the UK. A colleague returning from South Africa brought back some Ostrich jerky which was very nice. Funny, I seemed to be the only one in the office who liked it..... :rolmao:


And those seeking alternative cured meats for the trail should always remember those comestibles which served the British Empire well: bully beef, and of course Spam (TM).

Best wishes


Bruce

[Abbe Osram]

A couple of years ago my wife and I made some of our own using dried beef and dried blueberries. We experimented with lard and with suet. By far the more successful was the batch with suet; the lard batch was unpleasantly greasy. The taste was "interesting" - any kind of seasoning would improve the flavour no end.

Ours probably had too much moisture in it though as eventually it succumbed to weevils in our larder. :yikes:

In Ray Mears' original book he mentions that one recipe used by the Native Americans involved cherries with the stones left in.

A google on "pemmican" will yield loads of recipes, but British bushcrafters should bear in mind that most of the recipes are written in American English so like us, you may find some interpretation problems (eg a "cup" is not a standard UK measure).

Best of luck - have fun making it.


Bruce

hi
what is the difference between lard and suet? We don't have a translation into swedish. I find lard but suet doesn't exist.

thanks mate
Abbe

[Wayne]

Suet is that fat from the Aorta of a cow.

[Moonraker]

Suet is that fat from the Aorta of a cow.

Wayne, suet is the fat around the kidney, not the aorta which is the large arterial trunk that carries blood from the heart to be distributed by branch arteries through the body. Websters Dictionary says:

The fat and fatty tissues of an animal, especially the harder fat about the kidneys and loins in beef and mutton, which, when melted and freed from the membranes, forms tallow.
I can understand the confusion though :wink: :

http://www.rhm.com/rhm/webedit/185.jpg

[Moonraker]

hi
what is the difference between lard and suet? We don't have a translation into swedish. I find lard but suet doesn't exist.

thanks mate
Abbe

See the description above Abbe. It is the hard fat around a kidney. In French it is 'graisse de rognon' so in Swedish perhaps something like

( lammnjure) njure tjock :?:

The word 'suet' derives from the Anglo-Norman suet and that from sue or 'tallow'.

[Wayne]

My mistake i always thought it was the aorta. Learn something new everyday.

[Moonraker]

Found a very interesting article from the Notukeu Museum in Canada with great details here:

From what I have read it gives a good description of what pemmican actually was/ is.


From the record, pemmican was made from thin slices of lean meat from large game animals such as: bison, moose, elk, and deer. They were dried over a fire, or in the sun and wind. The dried meat was ground and shredded between stones, to which was added ground dried wild berries. Finally, melted fat, suet, and bone marrow grease was added to the mixture. It could be eaten as a soup, broth, stew or as is. When available, leaves of the peppermint plant or wild onions were added for flavour. It's greatest asset was that it kept well.

Full details here:

Experiments in Pemmican Preparation (http://collections.ic.gc.ca/notukeu/pemmican_e1.htm)

There is a tremendous photo guide of how to prepare it here :biggthump :

Making Pemmican (http://collections.ic.gc.ca/notukeu/pemmican_e.htm)

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/notukeu/pemmican5.gif

I love the 'hafted pemmican pounder' :-)

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/notukeu/pemmican9.gif

It looks like the pounder is made with a pebble? held onto a (filled? similar to an old fashion leather kosh?) leather haft? Really nice looking tool.

[Abbe Osram]

Hi Guys,
thanks for all the help and info, I learned a lot and I am able to make my own Pemmican now. I believe I will have a hard time finding suet here in sweden, I know now what it is but we mostly have supermarkets here and they hardly sell any kind of fet. I found that in one store they could get lard for me if I order, but suet will be funny to explain to them. :wave:

thanks to all :You_Rock_
cheers
Abbe

[brucemacdonald]

Abbe, if you're having problems getting hold of beef suet, just PM me and I am sure I can send you a packet of dried suet in the post. The most common brand available here in the UK is Atora, available in most supermarkets for those who make Christmas puddings and jam roly-poly.

Best wishes,

Bruce

[george]

Interesting - in Indonesia you can walk in to any market and find all sorts of different dried foods from tiny fishes and prawns to meat that has been shredded the way Moonraker's post shows, its called dendeng or abon abon. I used to carry bags of it to supplement my staple diet of noodles when in the forest. They dry it with various spices and flavourings and although it took some getting used to, my favourite was dendeng manis - dried meat sweetened with red palm sugar and soy sauce. It would have been very straight forward to turn that into pemmican. I wonder if you can get it from Indonesian food stores in the UK? Those of you out there in the Netherlands should be able to get hold of it easily.

George

[SteveUK]

I was looking on the net for recipes for pemmican and came across this one,
it uses peanut butter instead of suet/fat.

8oz Pounded jerky
8oz pounded dried fruit
8oz pounded unroasted nuts
2 Tablespoons of honey
4 Tablespoons of Peanut butter
pinch of Cayenne pepper.

Stephen.

[Moonraker]

Hi Guys,
thanks for all the help and info, I learned a lot and I am able to make my own Pemmican now. I believe I will have a hard time finding suet here in sweden, I know now what it is but we mostly have supermarkets here and they hardly sell any kind of fet. I found that in one store they could get lard for me if I order, but suet will be funny to explain to them.

Just ask a butcher I am sure they will know what you mean :wink:. It is the hard fat around the kidney (and as quoted above) and is pretty different in texture to lard.

Actually lard would not have been used I think from what I read. 'Lard' is strictly the rendered (i.e. melted down fat with impurities removed) fat from the pig. 'Beef Dripping' is the rendered fat from beef cattle, so I guess they were using mostly rendered 'Bison Dripping' :-).

The best chips for fish and chips are fried in Beef dripping BTW. And in Wiltshire in the UK they make a superb pastry called 'Lardy Cake' from lard with currants and sweet tasteand served warm out of the oven :o):

Simon

[brucemacdonald]

The best chips for fish and chips are fried in Beef dripping BTW. And in Wiltshire in the UK they make a superb pastry called 'Lardy Cake' from lard with currants and sweet tasteand served warm out of the oven :o):

Simon

Ah yes....fish and chips. Moonraker, you're absolutely right about the best fish and chips being made with beef dripping. As a treat on our holiday in Cornwall, we indulged in some from Rick Stein's fish and chip shop in Padstow - made in the proper way. Delicious! The only fish and chip shop I know of, to come with its own wine list. And a sprig of parsley with every portion.
:lol:

You've reminded me, I haven't had any lardy cake for a while. Time to put that right.....I'm guessing from your user ID that you hail from this county?


Best wishes

Bruce

[Moonraker]

Ah yes....fish and chips. Moonraker, you're absolutely right about the best fish and chips being made with beef dripping. As a treat on our holiday in Cornwall, we indulged in some from Rick Stein's fish and chip shop in Padstow - made in the proper way. Delicious! The only fish and chip shop I know of, to come with its own wine list. And a sprig of parsley with every portion.
:lol:

You've reminded me, I haven't had any lardy cake for a while. Time to put that right.....I'm guessing from your user ID that you hail from this county?

Best wishes

Bruce
Lived around Bath, Whitley, South Wraxall and later Bradford on Avon most of my life yep :wink: I used to hang around with the Wiltshire mods in Devizes occasionally but that is another story :-)

Nicest lardy cake I had was from Rode, was freshly baked, to be washed down with a nice pint of 6X from the Red Lion or Rising Sun...yum :o):

One of the few things I really miss from England:

http://www.wadworth.co.uk/brew_notes/images/6X-Handle_and_clip_blu.gif

My favourite pint is Wickwar 'Brand Oak' from the 'Green Tree pub in Bath...

:cry: :cry:

[brucemacdonald]

6X - you may see from my sig that I live in Devizes, a stone's throw from the Wadworths brewery.... :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beerchug:

[Stew]

Hhhmmm, Lardy Cake! :naughty:

It's about time I made some more. I use a recipe by HFW and it's gorgeous!
Every one I know liked it until they found what it was made with. There are some very negative opinions about using lard these days.

Never mind - more for me!!

:red:

[Moonraker]

Have a go! here is the recipe. Best thing to use lard for IMO :o):

Wiltshire Lardy Cake (http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipes/cakes/wiltshirelardycake.htm)

http://freespace.virgin.net/lf.mackelden/Castle_Combe/lardy.jpg

This one needs more lard :-)

[Snufkin]

hi
what is the difference between lard and suet? We don't have a translation into swedish. I find lard but suet doesn't exist.

thanks mate
Abbe
Lard is rendered pig fat, suet is rendered beef fat with salt added(i think). A major brand name for suet over here is Atora, a google search might help you locate some.

[ilan]

Know this is an old post but have just realised what pemmican is (I thought it was an old fashoned name for spam )? There is also some vegitarian recipies on the net using honey ect as a binder Has any one tried to make an alternative using honey or some other low fat method Ilan

[Jerky Meister]

(little claim to fame following ) As far as i know we are the only people making "vegan" pemmican :) ,i made the real stuff sometime ago and to be honest ,was o.k if you were starving or wanted to bulk out stew but it was nasty lol,bit to fatty for me.
So we swapped the lard for peanut butter and the jerky for fruit oats etc and have made Fruit Pemmican" which is lots nicer lol
we sell mostly to Western Re-enactors and cyclists ( strange combo but there you go lol) :lmao:

[longshot]

eg a "cup" is not a standard UK measure).


a cup equals 250mls., just for clarification. :)

dean

[stovie]

The most common brand available here in the UK is Atora, .....

Now I wonder what Atora is an anagram of????

[Toddy]

At the back of a deer there are fillets that can be sliced off and eaten raw, they are so tender. If you slice them very finely and hang them on a tree to dry (watch out for corbies :rolleyes: ) the meat will pound up easily with weight for weight of good skimmed butter and cleaned dried rowans. The mix is to be tight packed into a croggie or a small ashet and sealed with beeswax or suet. It'll keep cold until the New Year and is used like pate on oatcakes.

Cheers,
Toddy

[Toddy]

Now I wonder what Atora is an anagram of????


Bull apparantly :rolleyes: :D

http://www.atora.co.uk/aboutus/index.htm

cheers,
Toddy

[BOD]

I'll be trying this recipe out next week. The recipe came from the book "The
Spirit of the Harvest".

Pemmican

Servings: 6

2 cups buffalo jerky or beef jerky, shredded
1 cup dried chokeberries or tart red cherries, chopped
6 TBSP tallow(beef fat) or butter, melted

Combine all ingredients and form into 6 patties. Refrigerate until serving.
:wave:
Geoff

How well does pemmican last if made with butter? I would have thought the high moisture content would make it spoil quite quickly.

On another tack the up river folk here make a form of wild pig pork pemmican called 'baboi' which is piced up and delicious which they wrap up in leaves for travellers. However it does not last for more than a few days.

Does anyone know of pork pemmican recipes?

[Abbe Osram]

I dont believe that butter will be a good choice. In cold climate here made with pure fat it last very long. I like to have dried onions in, and some berries and poundered moose meat. Salt and pepper on dark bread is amazing.

cheers
Abbe

[falling rain]

Hi Abe........... Havn't seen you on here for a while how's things and how's your cabin coming along? :)

[Toddy]

The thing with butter is to make ghee from it by bringing it up almost to a boil and then turning the heat waaaaay down. There's a kind of froth appears and this needs to be skimmed off. There's a layer of curds that forms at the bottom of the pot and this needs to be strained out. The liquid layer in the middle goes an amber colour as the water is boiled off. After that the butter ghee goes solid and lasts very, very well indeed.

Better instructions than I gave.

http://www.yogaholidays.net/magazine/ghee.htm

http://www.ayur.com/food/ghee.html


Cheers,
Toddy

[dommyracer]

Bonus!!

There I was, looking back over some threads that have been posted in while I was on holiday, and at the same time wondering if I could find out a little more about the 'Pemmican' I'd just read about in Ray Mear's "Real Heroes of Telemark" book (my brother saw it in a charity shop for !3 and thought I might like it).

Nice one all you clever people! Abbe, did you you ever get around making any?

[Abbe Osram]

Hi Abe........... Havn't seen you on here for a while how's things and how's your cabin coming along? :)

Going fine, I am working now to build a nice outhouse! Then I got a wonderful nasty flue from Fenlander which keeps me caughing like hell.
But otherwise I am ok.

thanks for asking
cheers
Abbe

[spamel]

Just dragging this thread out of the depths as I have some cooked wild boar left over from dinner today, and we are having venison tomorrow, so I don't want to waste it. Can I dry it out and then turn it into pemmican or jerky? As I say, it is already cooked, but I will need to remove a few small slivers of fat from the meat. It was lovely by the way!!

[OzaawaaMigiziNini]

equal weight (not measurements) of melted lard and pounded jerky. Pounded preferably until it's almost nothing but fibres. Mix together while warm, and let cool.