Great advice on Gordon Ramsay and Alton Brown. Thanks very much. And I'll remember the word 'crass'.
I just bought 7 pounds of eye of round yesterday. I stock up on it whenever I find it on sale. I'm drying it now. It's perfect for making pemmican, as long as I have sensitively rendered my tallow. The perfect tallow has a bouquet that makes me imagine an expensive bouillon.
A regrettable misunderstanding has arisen in the culture because of a name inaptly commandeered by some jackwagon marketing person.
"have some Pemmican brand jerky" is like saying ''take a ride in my Volkswagen brand imitation Rolls Royce."
Everybody knows what jerky is. Every cook should know, but almost no one knows, how to make pemmican:
Take lean red meat (e.g., eye of round), dry to 0% water by weight at the lowest temp consistent with safety. Pulverize it into powder (I use a VitaMix).
Mix the powder thoroughly with melted tallow (I prefer made from suet), 50/50 by weight, it will look like brownie dough. Add Saskatoon berries if for ceremonial or festive use. Place into a mold (ice cube tray, small plastic tub, etc.) and cool.
A lump of pemmican is the nutritive equal of a nice fatty ribeye 4 or 5 times larger. 80% of the calories are from fat, 20 from protein. Shelf life measured in decades. Per unit weight, the most nutritious food on the planet. Keep a trapper or voyageur on his feet for months at a time. Favored by dogsled racers.
I always have some around the house. It is both a staple and a delicacy and is destined to become a HUGE market (if I have anything to say about it).
Great advice on Gordon Ramsay and Alton Brown. Thanks very much. And I'll remember the word 'crass'.
I just bought 7 pounds of eye of round yesterday. I stock up on it whenever I find it on sale. I'm drying it now. It's perfect for making pemmican, as long as I have sensitively rendered my tallow. The perfect tallow has a bouquet that makes me imagine an expensive bouillon.
Tallow candles make me hungry, I will agree they are an intoxicating aroma!
As far as jerky goes, my experience is only with venison as a young lad, watching others do it. Smoke houses are an art I hope we never lose.
A regrettable misunderstanding has arisen in the culture because of a name inaptly commandeered by some jackwagon marketing person.
"have some Pemmican brand jerky" is like saying ''take a ride in my Volkswagen brand imitation Rolls Royce."
Everybody knows what jerky is. Every cook should know, but almost no one knows, how to make pemmican:
Take lean red meat (e.g., eye of round), dry to 0% water by weight at the lowest temp consistent with safety. Pulverize it into powder (I use a VitaMix).
Mix the powder thoroughly with melted tallow (I prefer made from suet), 50/50 by weight, it will look like brownie dough. Add Saskatoon berries if for ceremonial or festive use. Place into a mold (ice cube tray, small plastic tub, etc.) and cool.
A lump of pemmican is the nutritive equal of a nice fatty ribeye 4 or 5 times larger. 80% of the calories are from fat, 20 from protein. Shelf life measured in decades. Per unit weight, the most nutritious food on the planet. Keep a trapper or voyageur on his feet for months at a time. Favored by dogsled racers.
I always have some around the house. It is both a staple and a delicacy and is destined to become a HUGE market (if I have anything to say about it).
Pemmican. As in "The Pemmican War"
Now... because you're a foodie, I'm willing to share another trip. Would you like to know my experience with another Arctic favorite: 'high meat' ?