Survival Food : Pemmican

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The Métis

Pemmican

Pemmican

• A single buffalo supplied the Métis with a large amount of meat. Therefore, they needed to find a way to preserve some of that meat to keep it from going bad.
• Most of the buffalo meat was used to make ‘pemmican’, which lasted for year without spoiling.
• Pemmican was usually made from buffalo meat.
• Drying the meat ensured that it did not go bad.
• How to make pemmican:
  • First, the buffalo meat was cut into long strips.
  • The strips were then dried on racks, either over a fire, or in the sun.
  • The dried buffalo meat was then pounded into granular form.
  • Once in granular form, it was placed into animal-hide bags.
  • Hot buffalo fat was poured into the bags and mixed with the dried meat.
  • Wild berries were added to the mixture for flavour.
  • The hide bag were sewn shut, and the pemmican kept for years.
• Pemmican was a nutritious and filling snack, and was eaily transported on long trade journeys.
• Pemmican recipe
  • Ingredients:
    • 2 lbs of buffalo meat
    • ¼ cup of berries (blueberries or saskatoon berries)
    • 5 tablespoons of animal fat
  • Steps:
    • Cut meat into long strips
    • Hang meat in the sun to dry
    • When dry, pound strips into flakes
    • Mix together flakes and dried berries in hide bag (or bowl)
    • Add melted fat (hot)
    • Add berries (optional)

Learn More About The Metis Here