Pemmican (ˈpemək(ə)n)

"Now me, I like how it tastes. No honey or berries in mine - just the pure stuff!" - opinion of a sailor who had eaten a lot of pemmican

Pemmican is a mixture of rendered animal fat with dried and ground meat powder, used as a travel food by sailors around the Great Ring. It is extremely filling and has a remarkable shelf life, with some sailors claiming to have eaten it a decade or more after it was created. Depending on the exact recipe used, the final consistency can vary from a sticky paste to a firm cake or even a hard brick.

Variations

As pemmican has spread around the Great Ring, there are many variations on the base recipe that have emerged. There are versions that rely entirely on fish and fish oil instead of land-based animals. The vegetarian Aethry have concocted variants that do not include animal meat or fat, although these are frequently scorned by members of other groups as not being pemmican at all. Many versions will also include dried fruit powder and sweeteners such as honey or sugar, and in the Southwestern Region it is common to include powdered hot peppers. Most of these additions will shorten the shelf life of the final product.

History

There is some debate over who first made pemmican, and where the name comes from. Most people agree that it came from either the T'iselek people of S'Chaanee, or the Kylitak of Kitlineq. The Common name of Pemmican is more likely derived from the Kitlin name pihimayak, as opposed to the Shtul'ul name, which is eq'wlh. Whichever group first introduced the product, it was spread around the Great Ring by sailors and merchants, and there are now hundreds of recipes and variants that use local ingredients, as well as many popular dishes made from the pemmican itself.

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink

Raw materials & Components

The exact recipe for pemmican varies depending on the location it is made, but there are some basic ingredients that are always present. First, pemmican always includes a dried meat that has been ground into a fine powder. The most traditional meats for this are seal, caribou, and bear, although virtually any meat can be used. The second ingredient is a fat, most often tallow rendered from the fat of the same animals used for the meat.

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