There are many methods for storing and processing meat. In our article, we want to talk about one of the ways that Indians used in everyday life. As a result, they received a life-giving product called pemmican. Recipes for its preparation have been developed for centuries and carefully guarded, since the product was vital.
What is pemmican?
What is pemmican and how to cook it? Surely not many have heard of such a product. Pemmican - meat sublimate in the Indian manner. It was used by the indigenous inhabitants of North America during the campaigns, hunting.
In addition, the product was actively used by polar researchers in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Pemmican (meat sublimate) is an easily digestible substance that is incredibly nutritious with very little weight and volume. The product is still used by fishermen, tourists and other people if necessary, passing serious routes.
Classic pemmincan
A true Native American pemmican consisted of dried or dried minced meat from an animal such as a bison. It also contained lard and dried berries or their juice. Sometimes spices were added. As a result, the Indians received very nutritious food, which has a very low weight, which is convenient for long trips.
A bit of history ...
At the end of the nineteenth century, the universal product caught the attention of travelers. It is no secret that at that time there was an active conquest of Antarctica and the Arctic. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the pemmican was firmly included in the list of travelers' provisions. In fact, it has become the main meat product of polar explorers.
But Siberian hunters had their own universal product. It was prepared from crushed crackers, lard and salt. The ingredients rolled into a bowl and dried. Such provisions can be stored for years. Food is good even if lard is bitter.
The European version of pemmican consisted of forty percent of ground meat and sixty of fat. For cooking, as a rule, they used beef, and less often they took lamb and pork. Pemmican for sled dogs was widely used. Only for the preparation of the product for animals they used the cheapest meat varieties - whale, seal and others. Packed such food in airtight cans, paper or cloth.
Amundsen is known to have used pemmican mixed with dried vegetables and oatmeal. By the middle of the twentieth century, transport communications with polar expeditions reached a new level, so the need to use pemmican gradually disappeared. Moreover, it was found that eating such a product for a long time is extremely harmful to the digestive tract, and it is impossible to call such a nutrition full.
A simple pemmican recipe
It is worth noting that, at present, pemican recipes have remained in demand. Perhaps the product is not as actively used as in the old days, but still they have not forgotten about it. Meat sublimate is used by tourists traveling on difficult and long hikes, as well as climbers. In our article, we want to give some recipes for preparing pemmican. Of course, at present, the sublimate is significantly different from the Indian version, but the general principles of preparation remained the same.
For cooking, you need to take meat and lard in a ratio of 2: 1. We cut the fat into very small cubes and drown it in a pan. The resulting fat with cracklings is poured into a container for further cooking. There, we chop small pieces of meat. We send the pan to the fire and boil the meat for six hours (water should not be added). The whole process takes place at the slowest fire. The essence of the preparation is that all the liquid from the meat leaves, and is replaced by fat. Ready sublimate can be highly salted to be safe from the loss of the product. Red pepper is also usually added. As you can see, the recipe for pemmican is quite simple, but requires a lot of patience and a lot of time.
Dried Fruit Recipe
The second pemmican recipe involves a completely different cooking scheme. It is necessary to take only fresh meat. And it’s better to pay attention to the tenderloin. The meat should not have veins and films. It must be passed through a meat grinder. Next, the meat is laid out on a baking sheet with a thin layer and dried. Finished semi-finished product must be ground into powder. This is just the first component of a pemmican.
To prepare the second, you need to take dried fruits - prunes, dried apricots, raisins, etc. Fruits must also be ground until smooth. The last component is bacon, which is worth melting. Further, all the ingredients - meat, fat and fruit are thoroughly mixed in a ratio of 4: 1: 2. You can add salt and spices to the mass, which help the product to be stored.
When the sublimate is ready, it remains to compress it. To do this, put the mass on a baking sheet. The layer thickness should not exceed two centimeters. Cover the product with a lid and put oppression. In this state, the pemmican should be for several days at a temperature of +60 degrees. During this time, excess fat will appear from under the lid, and the product itself will become drier. Next, cut the pemmican into cubes and pack it in foil. Such a product can be chewed on the go, or can be used as the basis for soup.
In a bottle
To prepare pemmican, you need to take lean meat and fat in a ratio of 2: 1. For four kilograms of the finished product, you need to prepare six kilograms of veal and three kilograms of fat. As in any other recipe, lard must be finely chopped and drown in a pan. As a result, we get greaves and liquid fat. All this is poured into a container and add small pieces of meat. Next, cook the whole mass for at least six hours on the smallest fire without adding water. The mass will gradually acquire amber transparency. The pieces of meat themselves will become more like crackers. The essence of this method is that all moisture must completely leave the product, and fat will take its place. As additional components put salt and pepper. This allows you to increase the shelf life of the pemican. A self-made recipe is quite simple, but takes a lot of time. The finished product must be properly packaged. For packaging, we use half liter bottles. Pour the mass into them. The contents of one such container is enough for one meal for ten people. This packaging option is quite convenient. No need to share the product. And hermetic storage for oily mass is very important.
Of course, pouring mass into bottles is not very simple. For convenience, it is worth using a funnel. Pieces of meat can be pushed with a knife. Each container must be filled to the top. The product is convenient to use, to remove it from the container, just cut the bottle. If food is being prepared for a smaller group, then 0.3 liter containers can be used.
Meat Boiled Recipe
The classic pemmican recipe is not too different from the options we offer, except for the fact that the Indians used a different kind of meat.
To prepare pemmican we take slightly frozen meat. Cut it into small pieces and put it in a pan. Next, prepare ghee. To do this, pass the fat through a meat grinder and drown in a pan. Drain the fat into a separate container through a strainer. Mix the prepared ingredients in a ratio of 3: 1 (meat and lard). Next, put the salt. It should be counted on that you need to put two teaspoons per kilogram of meat.
Pour the meat with melted fat and send the container to the stove. We evaporate the mass for five to six hours. Cooking is necessary on a very low fire. Periodically, the mass must be mixed so that the products do not burn. At the beginning of cooking, the broth will be completely cloudy, but gradually it will become more transparent and dark. At the very end of the process, the surface of the mass is covered with foam. In general, during the preparation of the initial mass of meat remains only a quarter.
We transfer the finished product to the container. For storage, only hermetic containers filled to the top with grease should be used. In this form, pemmican will remain usable for a long time.
Oven Recipe
The main feature of pemmican recipes is that a strict set of products is used for cooking. No extra components are used.
Melt lard in fat. Take the beef, cut it into small pieces and spread on a baking sheet. Top with all the melted fat. We send the pan to the oven. The meat should be stewed in the oven for about six to seven hours. During this time, the liquid evaporates and is replaced by fat. The meat is salted and twisted in a meat grinder. You can add dry currant berries (black), red and black pepper and even honey to it. By the way, instead of currants, you can take any berries. The main thing is that they are dried.
The finished mass is packed in very small pieces the size of a matchbox. Each bag is designed for one meal. It can be lowered into a mug with boiling water for three to four minutes, and then consumed as a full meal.
Pork and Beef Recipe
To prepare pemmican, take fat pork and beef in a ratio of 1:10. All meat is passed through a meat grinder, add a little salt and put the mass on a baking sheet. Next, send the meat to the oven. Periodically, the mass must be mixed so that it does not burn. Gradually, the meat should dry, while it should easily crumble and break. When cooking, it is important to understand that the product should not be baked, but rather dried. As a result, we get meat that looks like a semi-finished product. We put the finished product in a canvas bag. Meat should be protected from moisture and at the same time it cannot be stored in sealed packaging, as pemmican can get an unpleasant odor. Since the product is very hygroscopic, it should be stored in a dry place under the conditions of the campaign.
Using a semi-finished product is very simple. A handful is thrown into porridge or soup and boiled with other products. In the process of such cooking, the meat swells a little, but still remains tough. Nevertheless, it is quite possible to eat it.
Pemmican Indians
Of course, the recipe for the pemmican of the Indians was somewhat different from modern prototypes. Different peoples had their own options for preparing such a nutrient mixture. However, scientists acknowledge that Native American Pemmykan is a balanced product that allowed hunters to get good nutrition on a hike. The sublimate contained not only nutritious bison meat and lard, but also dried fruits, and this reliably protected from scurvy. No wonder researchers in the Arctic and Antarctic have adopted such a product for travel. It is no secret that many sailors and polar explorers suffered from scurvy during long transitions. The product for some time deservedly took a strong position in the diet of travelers.
Instead of an afterword
Currently, home-made sublimate is used by tourists as meat is the most nutritious substance. In conditions of great physical exertion, such food gives the body the necessary strength. What can not give plant and other products.