Indigenous people of North America, trappers, and earl
y settlers all owe their lives to pemmican. It’s a dense, high-protein, high-energy food that can be stored easily on a stable temperature shelf for an incredible five years. It has the right mix of fats, proteins, and calories to keep you going long into the aftermath of any disaster or for many miles down any trail.
There are hundreds of variants to this ancient food, but most are generally a mix of meat, berries, and fats.
WHAT YOU NEED
For this recipe, you simply need about 3 to 5 pounds of lean beef, 2 cups worth of dehydrated berries, salt, water, and tallow. You can either obtain your tallow from the store or render your own, as I show you how to do in another post. You will also need a dehydrator or oven with a low setting and a food processor, or else you will have to powder both your dried meats and berries manually. A cookie sheet, wax paper, and a bowl and spatula are everything you will need.
For this recipe, I am using beef because living in the suburbs doesn’t allow me to use and eat elk, moose, bison, caribou, seal, deer, or other meats. If you have access to any of those meats, your pemmican will taste even better, in my opinion. Generally, everyone has access to beef, so we’ll use it here for our basic recipe. If you want to make your beef taste a little gamier, it is common practice to add organ meat to it. This will also significantly boost the nutritional quality of the food.
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