A Recipe for Making Pemmican

Excerpted from: The Voyageur News, Winter 1998 (Vol. 21, No.4), North American Voyageur Council, Inc. A Recipe for Making Pemmican

Originally submitted by the Dooleys of Boise and printed in the Winter 1981 (Vol. 4, No. 1) Newsletter for Voyageurs

1 Batch = 3 1/2 pounds

4 cups dried meat - depending on how lean it is, it can take 1 - 2 lbs. per cup. Use only deer, moose, caribou, or beef (not pork or bear). Get it as lean as possible and double ground from your butcher if you don't have a meat grinder. Spread it out very thinly in cookie sheets and dry at 180° overnight or until crispy and sinewy. Regrind or somehow break it into almost a powder.

3 cups dried fruit - to taste mix currents, dates, apricots, dried apples. Grind some and leave some lumpy for texture.

2 cups rendered fat - use only beef fat. Cut into chunks and heat over the stove over medium (or Tallow) heat. Tallow is the liquid and can be poured off and strained.

Unsalted nuts to taste and a shot of honey.

Combine in a bowl and hand mix. Double bag into four portions. The mixture will last for quite a while without refrigeration. I have eaten it four years old. It actually improves with age.

HINT: Vary the fat content to the temperature in which it will be consumed. Less for summer. Lots for winter. Not only is it good energy food for canoeing, but an excellent snack for cross country skiing.

This recipe was originally from a Chippewayan Indian Guide as he learned it from his father. No buffalo chips!

This recipe was submitted by the Dooleys of Boise. Our thanks to them.

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