Pemmican

Pemmican
Pemmican ball
TypeAgglomeration
CourseMain course
Place of originNorth America
Region or stateNorth America
Main ingredientsBison, deer, elk or moose

Pemmican (also pemican in older sources)[1][2] is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous cuisine in certain parts of North America and it is still prepared today.[3][4]

The name comes from the Cree word ᐱᒦᐦᑳᓐ (pimîhkân), which is derived from the word ᐱᒥᕀ (pimî), 'fat, grease'.[5] The Lakota (or Sioux) word is wasná, originally meaning 'grease derived from marrow bones', with the wa- creating a noun, and sná referring to small pieces that adhere to something.[6][7] It was invented by the Indigenous peoples of North America.[8][9]

Pemmican was widely adopted as a high-energy food by Europeans involved in the fur trade and later by Arctic and Antarctic explorers, such as Captain Robert Bartlett, Ernest Shackleton, Richard E. Byrd, Fridtjof Nansen, Robert Falcon Scott, George W. DeLong, Robert Peary, Matthew Henson, and Roald Amundsen.

  1. ^ Ballantyne, Robert Michael (1876). Away in the Wilderness. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates. pp. 81–84.
  2. ^ Anderson, Anne (1973). The Great Outdoors Kitchen: Native Cookbook. Cree Productions. ISBN 9780919864290.
  3. ^ "Wo Lakota Making Wasna". Lakota Red Nations. 2017-11-30. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  4. ^ "NANF". www.tankabar.com.
  5. ^ Sinclair, J.M. (ed) English Dictionary Harper Collins: 2001.
  6. ^ "Native Recipes". sacred.indigenous.youth.education.circle.mysite.com.
  7. ^ "New Lakota Dictionary Online". www.lakotadictionary.org. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  8. ^ McLagan, Jennifer (2008). Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient. Ten Speed Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-1580089357.
  9. ^ Morton, Mark (2004). Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities. Insomniac Press. p. 222. ISBN 1894663667.