Needle Pemmican

Manufacturing process

Needle Pemmican often varies in its ingredients upon region and what prey is available. All meats are cooked over a smoker and dried until akin to jerky, ground until nearly a powdered state, then blended with dried berries, spices, fat and tallow, and sweeteners such as honey, sugar, or molasses. Once fully prepared, the pemmican can be eaten right away or stored for up to several years.

Significance

Needle Pemmican is a dish exclusively made by the Pack of Ferventi due to hunting regulations on the Needlecoat Wolf, whose meat makes up the bulk of the dish. Although the dish heavily varies in preparation and ingredients by which region and sect of the pack has created it, it is widely eaten by the group especially in winter when food supplies are low. As a highly calorie rich food and due to its long shelf life, the dish is widely considered to be of great cultural importance to the pack and the savior of sects living in the high northern regions. Eating it is generally considered a rite of passage for new members of the pack, and making it for one's self seen as fully integrating one's self into the group's lifestyle as well as opportunity to pass on one's knowledge and bond as a group. Almost every sect of the pack in Laramidia, Europe, and Asia is known to make the dish, and will often have between 50 and 200 pounds of it on hand per adult in the group each year. As the dish does not spoil easily and can last for decades, it is often stored in caches underground or high up trees to be collected at a later date.
The dish is also a part of many life events within the pack- Needle Pemmican is served at the wedding ceremonies between pack members, with wedding needle pemmican being signifgantly sweeter than the normal variety and often decorated with wild honeycomb, dried herbs, and wrapped in leather from the needlecoat wolf. Wedding needle pemmican is often served in much larger quantities than the normal variety as well, and sometimes used as a wedding gift for the new couple, to be saved and eaten on their anniversaries for the duration of their relationship. The meal is also often given as a gift whenever a member of the pack has a child, due to that the parents oftentimes do not have time to cook or hunt while preoccupied with their new infant. Many of those born within the pack testify to the fact that needle pemmican is a common baby food when rehydrated and warmed, oftentimes mixed with oatmeal and fresh fruits. Both the wedding version and the version given to new parents often include many more ingredients, such as a much higher volume of dried fruits and berries, nuts, higher quality and tastier fat, and sweeteners.
Unlike many foods exclusive to or created by the Pack of Ferventi, Needle Pemmican is strangely absent from holidays surrounding the wolf god, and this is thought to be that it is such a common food among the pack that it holds little significance during holidays.

Rarity

Rare- Restricted to the Pack of Ferventi

Raw materials & Components

Needlecoat Wolf meat, animal fat, wildfowl, bison, deer, or moose meat, wild berries, sugar, honey, or molasses