Pemmican (from Cree 'pimîhkân') is dried pounded meat mixed with rendered fat and berries, the concentrated trail and winter food of the Plains nations.
Bite a piece of pemmican and it is dense, rich, and intensely savory, the concentrated dried bison hitting first, then the fat coating the mouth and the cranberries giving sharp little bursts. Bite: powerfully meaty and energy-dense, chewy and fatty, sustaining in a way no fresh food is. The ingenious survival food that fuelled journeys across the continent.
Drying removes the water that spoils meat; rendered fat coats the meat powder and seals out air, so pemmican keeps for months or years without refrigeration. Pound-for-pound it is extremely energy-dense — protein and fat together — and the berries add vitamins and a little acid. A masterpiece of preservation.
Variations
With saskatoon berries (classic). With deer or moose. With more fat (richer). With dried fish. Sweeter. As a modern energy bar.
On the Palate
Where Pemmican sits in the Native American flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
8 steps · 40 min active + 3 hours 20 min waiting
- 1180 min
Slice lean bison very thin and dry it hard (low oven or in the sun) until brittle.
Watch outDry the meat until it snaps like a twig with no bend or moisture left — any softness inside and it can spoil instead of keeping for months.
- 215 min
Pound the dried meat to a coarse powder.
- 310 min
Dry and crush a handful of cranberries.
- 48 min
Gently melt rendered fat (tallow).
Watch outMelt the tallow gently to just liquid and clear — let it get hot and smoking and it scorches, which taints the whole batch.
- 55 min
Mix the meat powder and berries, then pour in the melted fat.
- 68 min
Work into a stiff paste and press into a flat cake or balls.
Watch outPress while the fat is still warm and workable so it binds into a stiff cake — once it cools it sets hard and won't take shape.
- 712 min
Let it cool and set firm.
- 82 min
Cut into pieces; it keeps for months as trail food.
