H/t reader Squodgy:
“Is there a vegan PEMMICAN?”
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– Antarctica: vegan pemmican:
Vegan pemmican recipe
How do you create a vegan version of a recipe which is pretty much dried meat and animal fat, sometimes with dried berries sprinkled in [8], [11], [16], [17]? I did not have an easy time finding a recipe of this online so I decided to make my own recipe. The fat is quite easy, you just need something with lots of saturated fatty acids which is solid at room temperature (or even below room temperature, as the dish is meant for cold climates). Refined coconut oil or vegetable shortening are both readily available and tick this box. I went with coconut oil since I don’t want to eat hydrogenated oils.
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Vegan pemmican
Pemmican is a long lasting, hardy dish that is great for long expeditions. Extensively used by arctic and antarctic explorers, the food originates from the first peoples in modern day Canada.
Servings 1
Ingredients
Vegan pemmican
- 1 carrot
- 50 mL green peas, thawed
- 4-5 dried mushrooms
- 2 tbsp yellow pea flour optional
- 3 tbsp rolled oats
- 1 tbsp raisins or other dried fruit
- ½ tsp smoked paprika optional, see note
- ½ tsp salt
- ~60 mL coconut oil or vegetable shortening
Ship’s biscuits
- 150 mL whole wheat flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ~70 mL water
Instructions
Vegan pemmican
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Cut the carrot into thin strips using a peeler. Chop the thawed peas as finely as you can.
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Spread peas and carrots into a thin layer on a baking sheet or similar and dry in the oven. I ran it at 150°C for 20-30 min, using a convection oven. A higher temperature means a faster dehydration but also means you can burn the vegetables, going beyond basic dehydration (which is undesirable in this case.)
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While the vegetables are dehydrating, grind the oats and mushrooms to a coarse powder using a blender.
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Finely chop the raisins.
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When the vegetables are dried, grind them into a coarse powder as well.
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Mix all the dry ingredients. Add salt and smoked paprika, if using.
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Optional: weigh the combined ingredients and measure out an equal weight of coconut oil or vegetable shortening.
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Melt the coconut fat in a small pot and add all the ingredients. Stir until a thick slurry is formed.
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Pour the slurry into a mould such as a cake pan or a mug. Let cool to solidify. A few hours in the fridge is enough.
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Demould by gently adding hot water to the outside of your mould. Warp in aluminum foil or wax paper.
The vegan pemmican is now ready to go on an adventure.
Ship’s biscuit
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Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Add a little water at a time and work it into the flour. Keep doing this until a hard dough has formed.
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Let the dough rest for 20-30 min.
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Roll dough into a 15 mm thick slab. Cut into desired biscuit shapes, such as squares. Stab with a fork.
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Bake biscuits at 190°C for 20-30 min. They should be dry and tough. Think “will this survive a year at sea?”.
Hoosh
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Enjoy the pemmican with ship’s biscuits as is or melt some snow and break pemmican and biscuits into the water, creating the stew known as hoosh. Makes both the pemmican and the biscuits much more palatable.
Notes
Note on smoked paprika: first peoples in so-called Canada would smoke their meat to dehydrate it, a flavour potentially captured by the smoked paprika. I can not find information on how the arctic and antarctic explorers dehydrated their meat for pemmican. I opted not to use the smoked paprika.
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Personally, after thousands of years of experience, I’m still using Lembas…
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