Pemmican

flyinglentris

flyinglentris

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Pemecan is a historical Native American meat cuisine in North America.

I have a curiosity whether any North American members have had experience with this, especially, those in Canada and the Northern US states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado the Dakotas,, Minnesota and possibly, the plains states of Nebraska and Kansas.

Has anything interesting in world cuisine spun off the basic pemecan recipe?
 
What is pemecan?

It is meat, today beef, but likely used to be buffalo, deer, elk or antelope, mixed with a special suet like fat called tallow, and berries. Tallow is not like suet, in that it is solid at room temperature and can be stored for long periods of time, refrigerated.

Pemecan was adapted to go with explorers of Arctic Canada, at one time, and may be still a food staple for people living in Arctic Canada.
 
I tried it as a kid. We went to a school camp for three or four days when I was 11yo, and it was an educational thing. One of the things we did was learn about Native American culture and that included trying it.

While I remember doing it, I have absolutely zero memory of the taste/texture, which must mean it was neither outstanding nor disgusting.
 
TastyReuben said:
I tried it as a kid. We went to a school camp for three or four days when I was 11yo, and it was an educational thing. One of the things we did was learn about Native American culture and that included trying it.

While I remember doing it, I have absolutely zero memory of the taste/texture, which must mean it was neither outstanding nor disgusting.
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I figure that without spices and anything more than berries, it is very basic and the tallow may not do much for it. I am however, interested in how it may be adapted toward a more innovative global cuisine, perhaps as filling for tortes, or even taco shells - or keeping native, flat breads.
 
A pemecan sausage might also be an interesting adaptation with some spices and things like garlic and onion.

Berries as used in pemecan can be adapted to be cranberries or raisins.
 
flyinglentris said:
What is pemecan?

It is meat, today beef, but likely used to be buffalo, deer, elk or antelope, mixed with a special suet like fat called tallow, and berries. Tallow is not like suet, in that it is solid at room temperature and can be stored for long periods of time, refrigerated.

Pemecan was adapted to go with explorers of Arctic Canada, at one time, and may be still a food staple for people living in Arctic Canada.
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Never remotely ever heard of it. I will investigate. Thanks.

Russ
 
rascal said:
Never remotely ever heard of it. I will investigate. Thanks.

Russ
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I look at pemecan like this ... there are three basic ingredients, meat, tallow and berries, nothing more.

Tallow, I assume, has a neutral flavor. Besides its inclusion in pemecan, it is used in the production of candies - and soap (we don't want to cook soap). So to my mind, tallow is a flavor fulcrum as it can be flavored by anything from spices, sugar, fruits, berries, sauces and so on. There are two things I consider about tallow in pemecan, how much to include and whether to blend it with the meat and berries (or other flavor agents) together, or to flavor it separately and add it as a unique element in what would be a contemporary pemecan. I like the second alternative better and I think I'd give preference to a smaller amount of tallow, and not a large amount.

I am also considering how to dress a pemecan up, so it is more artsy in presentation, more meaningful. It is a challenge to move it from a base food to something more exotic.

BTW: Beef tallow can be bought in jars.
 
Mod.Edit: Its called 'pemmican' with a double 'm' and an 'i'. I corrected the thread title.

Some further info here: pemmican | Definition, History, & Facts

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flyinglentris said:
Tallow, I assume, has a neutral flavor.
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Tallow is a generic term for a rendered fat. Most people are familiar with lard (pork), dripping (beef) and duck and goose fat - these are all types of tallow. Any time you save the rendered fat from roasting meat you're making tallow.

Its definitely not a neutral flavour though....whilst lard and dripping are both fairly mild tasting, they do taste slightly different. And rendered fat from duck and goose has a very different texture and flavour. I'd imagine the rendered fat from game would be equally varied in taste. I'd guess traditionally you would use the rendered fat from the same animal as the meat.
 
I have never had it. From what I understand, its origins are similar to jerky -- a food that would not spoil on a long trip on horseback. It's not something you can pick up at the local grocery store. I would surely have to make it myself... which I may never get around to doing.

CD
 
caseydog said:
I have never had it. From what I understand, its origins are similar to jerky -- a food that would not spoil on a long trip on horseback. It's not something you can pick up at the local grocery store. I would surely have to make it myself... which I may never get around to doing.

CD
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I just read through a recipe. If I made it, it would go like this:

Trim the meat, dehydrate the meat overnight in a low oven, grind the meat into a powder, render some fat, dehydrate all the other stuff, get it in a loaf, etc etc blah blah blah...two weeks later, when I finally got it ready, cut off a piece, try it, and:

"Well, that tastes like 💩."

Throw it away, order a pizza.
 
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