Pemmican: History's Power Bar

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Feral Buffaloes: By A. J. T. Johnsingh, WWF-India and NCF - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
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Choke Berries: By Foto: Jonn Leffmann, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikime...
#tastinghistory #pemmican

[@TastingHistory]

It's been a year, and our new Pemmican Stew (Rubaboo) video is up: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3jWhmiPosuZnsUsi=pJ0_9mSCcpTp_ZxP

[@L_Monke]

Liar! It is not 27'th of September but 12'th! It has been 11 and a half month how could you?!

[@TastingHistory]

@@L_Monke but it was a year since I made it. I made both the 2nd week of August.

[@anq4274]

A Pelipper¡¡

[@highlander723]

​@@TastingHistoryGiven the price of food.... Can you do a series on foods of the depression era. WE NEED HELP

[@mylesjude233]

​@highlander723 That would make a great series of videos for cost effective meals 😊

[@alexanderkelsey202]

I work in archaeology in New York and we have evidence of pemmican being made during the middle archaic period (~4000BC) here. Based on cooking sites and dna residue it looks like it was made of bear or eel, and often included acorn/hickory flour and dried berries as well, basically a meat granola bar

[@haileybalmer9722]

6000 years ago!? Wow. I love to learn things like that, it really makes history come alive. Thank you!

[@brutusthebear9050]

Wow, even after 6000 years it's still edible. How does it taste? Lol

[@MrChristianDT]

What kinds of berries? Same ones used out west, or were they going for stranger fruit like chokeberry, or just a thickener, like Rowan or Partridge berry?

[@nemo4evr]

do you have any idea if they had something similar in Europe? or for that matter anywhere else in the world, like China or Indonesia, I know that traditionally we cure meats in Europe, like salamis, Jamon Serrano , chorizos etc but the process for this is very distinctive.

[@larissabrglum3856]

I live in upstate New York and I'm curious about the type of berries that were used in that period.

[@carltonshell1964]

As a Mvskoke (Muskogee Creek) from NW Florida, my family has been making pemmican for many many generations. I have watched SO many youtubers attempt to make pemmican and cry when their attempts go "off" after a month or so. I have tried many times to correct their methods but am always ignored. You sir.. have hit upon the secret I keep trying to impart.... Use exactly enough tallow to hold the powdered meat together.... too much fat and it WILL go off, too little and it will fall apart... also the type of fat you use will effect everything from texture to shelf life.. I said Tallow for a reason.. tallow is the hard kidney fat, that's what you want, it has a much higher melting point and a much longer shelf life after rendering and we find it gives the best result. Being a Eastern Woodlands Band of Native American, we never used buffalo because we never saw them, instead, we used bear, deer, goat, squirrel, various birds, and fish etc.. but the tallow was almost exclusively bear tallow. Also, for us at least, we never made pemmican right off... we dried the meats and used it like that, and only when it dried too much over time, gathered it all together and, when there was enough, made pemmican from THAT. This information is from our songs and oral traditions as well as actual practice which we hold to this day.

[@marianbrittain4153]

Thanks for sharing your history of pemmican.

[@KubinWielki]

That's genuinely interesting to read. Thanks for sharing!

[@characterblub]

Genuinely thank you for sharing the information! That's so cool to hear about

[@blixten2928]

True knowledge, thanks!! Very informative, and makes one think again about traditions, food and knowledge!

[@mccleod6235]

Is it still possible to get bear tallow?

[@sintanan469]

I've never tried it myself, but one of the old native women here in my hometown would make pemmican with venison, suet, dried seaweed, and raw honey. I don't remember the ratios, but she would give it out to people wanting a snack and would basically use it to flavor everything she cooked. She passed away about a decade ago, but I'm still chewing through one of the _buckets_ of honey she had. When she was close to the end she started giving away everything she had to the rest of the town. A lot of her old recipes and knowledge are lost now, and I regret not spending as much time around her as I could have. You never appreciate what you have until it's gone. Miss you, Aggie.

[@RangerMan-yv7rl]

Some good ppl live to give n bless

[@garrick3727]

Today I learned that 1 elk = 3 deer, and 1 bison = 4 deer. I'm not sure that information will ever be useful, but you never know.

[@kamo7293]

2:03 you turned this quote into a maths equation and solved it. 😂😂 nice

[@mattdragon333]

I'm actually freaking out a bit because if a bison is a whooooole deer bigger than an elk, as in, a moose, those things are quite scary

[@gljames24]

​@@mattdragon333 Elk is completely different from moose

[@mattdragon333]

@@gljames24 oh What's an elk like?

[@gamerguy247365]

Its good info for your next trip down the Oregon trail

[@silverlightx6]

I was taught to make pemmican as a kid. Smoking the meat is important (aside from fly prevention) it provides a nice smokiness to the meat. My mother used whatever dried berries she had on hand, but her favorites were blueberries or blackberries. She added a touch of honey to it as well. Her favorite use was to stew it in an acorn flour porridge. Often she added fresh herbs (whatever wild ones were available at the time), and sometimes fresh berries. Good memories.

[@BaconIover69]

🤤 that sounds so good. I am from central Europe and have no culturally connection to pemmican. But I made it myself to help me in my ketogenic diet and I have to say I could live of that for I don't know how long. I love it!

[@Bacteriophagebs]

I made pemmican in Boy Scouts and we used smoked beef. I really liked the jerky that way, but was less of a fan of the pemmican, probably because we used too much fat. We did add salt and brown sugar, which gave it a good flavor, but it was too greasy. Years later, I found a little place that made jerky that was exactly like pemmican meat. It was a 60-minute drive form my house, in between two small towns on the other side of an Native American reservation from the city I live in, but any time I was anywhere near it, I'd make a detour to buy several pounds. It breaks like that, but when you bite it, it melts in your mouth. Now I'm hungry.

[@thessie]

That sounds lovely, both the memories and the pemmican

[@ilenastarbreeze4978]

that sounds amazing, how do you dry blackberries?

[@peculiarlystrangelyoddlypa4012]

@@ilenastarbreeze4978 Basically the same way you'd normally do the procedure to Ensure than those "Red Hot Chili Peppers" get that characteristic look of *Rippin' A-Part* 💪

[@jonathangauthier3549]

Hey bud. My dad was a a descendant of Mohawks from Oka, Quebec (Sanguingorra tribe). My fondest childhood memories are of him teaching me how to cook. Since pork is really inexpensive, we often made pemmican with pork and raspberries (red and black cap varieties), and a turkey and cranberry version with Christmas leftovers. In our household, we used the pemmican to add flavor and fat to our carbs, so we would toss a chunk into a pot of boiling rice or to a pot of potatoes ready for mashing. I always marveled at how the berries would ooze streaks of red and purple as they rehydrated. Turning bland, white mashed potatoes or rice into a tie dyed side dish. Please revisit this recipe and try it out on your channel? My dad (R.I.P.) would be so happy to know that his family history has been shared with the world

[@jerri5884]

@ Johnathan Gauthier...I enjoyed reading your memories with and of your dad .. I feel your emotions for your dad and it touched my heart ❤️..just feeling happy for your memory and again thank you for sharing it with us..blessings to you n your loved ones 🌬✨️🕊

[@huntabascan]

Sound like the Carpathians:)) According to some history books, the people of the Steppe on the European side had pemmican and to be honest I saw recipes from the time that goes back to Noah.

[@jonathangauthier3549]

@@huntabascan cool. Bouillon cubes of ancient Carthage. Sounds to me like potentially interesting episode. Hope you're taking notes Mr. Miller?

[@satoshiketchump]

​@@jonathangauthier3549 Carpathia in Europe, Carthage in North Africa (modern day Tunisia)

[@jonathangauthier3549]

Oops, my bad. Sorry

[@joshuadelafuent3]

After seeing this in Rimworld a million times, I'm finally learning what the hell pelican really is

[@colarowlet6775]

Ha, I was looking for a comment mentioning Rimworld.

[@mageofvoid4282]

same

[@jefferydraper4019]

ahhh...Rimworld. 3000 years in the future we will have Pemmican...and horseshoes as a primary game.

[@whyamihere555]

pelican

[@josoffat7649]

@@whyamihere555 damn autocorrect 😁

[@ealaban]

"The flavour was the 'memory of beef'", what an exquisitely poetic phrase. The High Bard of Ireland Ferchertne once refered to Bards as "caskets of poetry", this is on that level. Well done, Keep up the good work

[@_hunter_hunter1048]

And the memory of the makers feacies ... they didn't wash their hands when they made it in those days

[@devinleighkyle209]

As a plains Cree Canadian, former kitchen rat and Head/Exec chef (28 years in kitchens), and also currently an Archaeology and Anthropology major at University... I have to say this is undoubtedly the most culturally accurate informational video on pemican and the people involved, that I have ever seen. Rubaboo... c'mon, super impressed at the shoutout of the dish and research that went into this video. Over half of my family does not even know what Rubaboo is. Am currently in an Archaeology of Food class, and Bison is my focus project with pemmican being my edible item. Checkin out other videos regarding techniques from what I know myself, and wow... man this video is a beauty! Hats off to you Max Miller. On a final note. I live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. If you are ever in need of Saskatoon berries my friend, jus shoot me a message! We jus call' em berries up here so... ahaha. jus jokin! But seriously, I'll hook you up!

[@mariahirsi4753]

Wow that's amazing do you know any other recipes from prairie Crees in Saskatchewan? I'm also from that area and I'm looking for recipes for traditional food!

[@claytonberg721]

I question his pronunciation of Metis but he knows more about the Northwesters and the HBC than 90 percent of Canadians do. All he said was 'you guys should join together' and didn't get into George Simpson who was the man who made that happen, but still it was pretty indepth for a 20 minute video.

[@saaddagoat]

@@claytonberg721 Assuming it's a french word, his pronunciation is pretty spot on

[@claytonberg721]

@@saaddagoat Then most of the white people and first nations people in canada are saying it wrong. No big matter however.

[@saaddagoat]

@@claytonberg721 it's a bit of a weird one tbh (at least to me). Upon first viewing, I'd instantly pronounce it me-ti, because that's following standard French rules, which is how he pronounced it. But I've also heard the S pronounced, so maybe it's regional? It's also possible that I'm wrong and the word doesn't follow conventional French rules so the s is pronounced

[@zenkakuji3776]

That hard tack schtick never seems to grow old, just like pemican presumably. Looking forward to next year's segment on the aged pemican culinary creations. It might turn into a great topping for pizza instead of sausage! 🍕

[@caspenbee]

Kindof like chorizo in texture, mayhaps!

[@rtyria]

That would be an intriguing ingredient.

[@FellsApprentice]

I can guarantee that will not work out the way you want it to

[@Taolan8472]

@@FellsApprentice are you sure? You could break up the pemmican and reconstitute it, then sprinkle it on with the cheese. Come to think of it that actually sounds pretty good.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Hardtack gets old all the time. That’s the point. (Steve1989MRE eating civil war hardtack is a video worth watching.)

[@elliottadams8032]

Im Native American and this video is one of the most entertaining I’ve seen of yours! Choke cherries are local here and i make traditional dry meat. This process is interesting and we dont really make pemmican here anymore so i learned a lot about how it would be prepared.

[@TastingHistory]

Hey thank you for the support 😁

[@iamagi]

Because you have access to McDonalds ?

[@wareforcoin5780]

People don't know about choke cherries, but the world needs to start eating them. They're _delicious._

[@lebosshog]

choke berries and choke cherries - not the same.

[@XSpamDragonX]

My mom grew up on a farm here in Manitoba and used to collect choke cherries for my grandmother to make jam.

[@Aziara86]

I've made pemmican before and brought it on long car trips. I don't mind the taste so much, it's very much 'eating to live' and not 'living to eat' lol. I find craisins (dried cranberries) help give a nice pop of flavor. Having a cup of hot tea alongside it really helps desolve any fat that wants to coat your mouth.

[@willek1335]

I think the best way to consume large amounts of fat is simple. When Børge Ousland crossed the north pole by foot and swimming, several times, he had to consume 7-8000 calories per day, and still lost 25 kilo. It's such an ardous 2-3 months trip, up and down colossal pack ice and swimming, that you're craving huge amounts of calories. His pulk weighed 250+ kilo, and almost all of it was food. Most of the food was various forms of fat, due to how dense the energy level is. When I've done similar strenuous activities, it only takes about a week for any calories to become a feast. Although carbohydrates is nice uphill, fat is just one necessary part. The smallest amount of flavor, such as raisins, becomes quite flavorful in those endeavors. As we say in these types of outdoorsy community, the greatest spice is hunger. :D Have a good day!

[@adreabrooks11]

The important thing to remember is that pemmican is an ingredient. It was eaten on its own when they had no better options, but imagine what your desiccated ration would do if it were added to a piping hot bowl of potatoes, carrots and a few spices. I'm no First Nations historian, but I know they did the equivalent - with waterlily root, dock, acorn flour and many other items. I regret to say: your eating pemmican as-is is rather like eating a box of (more nourishing) Kraft Dinner by opening the packet and sprinkling it on dry noodles. If I might humbly suggest: if you get a chance to go on another such trip, pack a small camp stove, a few dried veggie and spice mixes, a pot and some water. You might be surprised how much you're looking forward to your next pemmican repast. 👍

[@emilyperkins9947]

As a Native American, I've been waiting YEARS to see SOMEONE do Native American recipes... But pemmican and fry bread seem to be the only thing people associate with us! But still awesome to see something done in such an awesome way!

[@spaceranger7375]

Have you thought about starting a channel yourself? There are many who'd love to watch!

[@Lunch_Meat]

I would love to see more native American recipes. My aunt was Chinook (not blood related. I'm as white as wonder bread lol) and she use to cook up some amazing sea food that totally spoiled me.

[@belisarius6949]

I mean, he did some mexican native recipes ^^ Does that count? Or only USA/Canada natives?

[@dragnflye3797]

@@spaceranger7375 I would second this idea. I would also love to see content that covers precolonial foods.

[@forest_green]

@@rthompson7182 I only know a bit about my own people, the coast salish, but one of the problems is that a lot of the foods are no longer eaten in mass quantities, and really difficult to get unless you go to the place where they grow and forage. There are some foods that can even kill you or at least give you gastrointestinal distress if they're not harvested and cooked by an expert, like camas. Another big problem is that a lot of us grew up so disconnected from our heritage, even if we're eating traditional foods like seafood, native plants, venison, etc, we don't personally really know how they were prepared aside from being preserved, like smoking. Give me an oolichan and I can probably fry it or something, but was it fried on a hot stone by my ancestors or was it prepared another way? Was it flavored with herbs or did people just eat it plain? I have no idea and I don't know where to ask. My grandma ate oolichan but I unfortunately never asked her how she prepared it and whether it was different from how her mother or her mother's mother prepared it. I'd love to see someone try something REALLY traditional, though, like Inuit maktaq lol

[@firefox7658]

"If you want to blame somebody, blame the french" That is the quote I shall live by

[@victorianaharris1755]

He preempted the comments section, lol

[@weldonwin]

Well, its certainly 2000 British History in a nutshell. "When in doubt, bother the French"

[@sotch2271]

Average english

[@MarcFK13]

Except we say bison. Just bison. So blame all you want, you stuck with the error, we didn't.

[@firefox7658]

@@MarcFK13 cope harder, frenchie

[@joshshields9229]

My uncle makes deer pemmican every year and gives it as Christmas gifts. But he adds either liquid smoke or teriyaki sauce to the fat as he renders it. Then he puts it through a sausage grinder and into sausage casings. Everyone looks forward to it every year.

[@willek1335]

That sounds homely. :)

[@KendallM0219]

That’s so fricking cool!

[@johnnylego807]

In sausages sounds DELICIOUS, probably turns out really nice!

[@chadpunte1731]

now is he using the incredibly waxy deer fat or is he using lard?

[@littlewigglemonster7691]

​​@@chadpunte1731 I would think tallow very little fat on deer and taste awful I don't think be able to get enough off a deer to make pemmican but who knows.

[@stevet5379]

FYI- Metis is pronounced as May-tee. Pemmican and hardtack are excellent for multiple day long hikes or spending long periods of time away from civilisation. It's easy to store, easy to carry and has a ton of energy stored in it. It's been years since I've had any but I do remember it well.

[@kyonkochan]

I'm a Métis person and it's cool to see one of my fave youtubers doing a video on my culture. Not a lot of people know about the Métis people.

[@Serene80]

I'd HEARD of them but didn't know anything about them...

[@Hikkikomoru]

I know the word as a general description of someone with mixed heritage.

[@Skoden_lures]

@@Hikkikomoru This is where we in what is called Canada, are having "identity wars" there are people in the east that are calling themselves Métis. The Metis people are a distinct race and culture. It's not just any mixed European and First Nations person. The people come from the Red River valley in Manitoba and many settlements in Saskatchewan, Alberta and some parts of British Columbia.

[@JohnSmith-kf1fc]

@@Skoden_lureswhy is that so? People from mixed genetic backgrounds in eastern and northern canada also refer to themselves as metis. Curious to know where you got that information from?

[@Skoden_lures]

@@JohnSmith-kf1fc My info comes from the Métis Nation itself, much of my family is Métis. This is where the big argument is happening because there are no Métis settlements east of Manitoba. They may call themselves Métis but if they can't trace their lineage back to the western settlements then they are mixed blood not Métis.

[@kelliwilliams6400]

I was about 9yo the last time I made Pemmican with my NA grandfather. He passed less than a year later. I had forgotten so thank you for reminding me. It was always fun helping him though I never developed a taste for it. He always started the meat with a marinade of cactus juice, berry juice, some cherry juice if he had any, whatever other fruit he had mashed up (apple, plum, peach,etc), salt and lots of pepper. He always said that you had to use "good wood" for the smoking. He meant hickory, apple, plum, etc. It imparts it's own flavor to the meat. I still use that phrase when I'm cooking over a fire. He would dry the marinade and the other fruits he used for the juices with the meat. "No use wasting perfectly good food just cause some of it was used". Once everything was dried, he would pound it to dust and mix it together. Here's where he differed a bit from "normal" pemmican. He stored the mix without the fat because fat can go rancid. He only added the fat when he was going hunting. Otherwise he used the mix as "flour". Add a little water and eggs and he made some interesting "pancakes" or rolls. Add a few other things and he had a soup or stew. Again, thank you for the walk down memory lane.

[@-jank-willson]

Did he use acorn flour? Acorn flour was apparently a huge staple of the south-eastern tribes. (it has to be made into a flour in order to process the tanins out of it)

[@fortheloveofchocolat]

What a wonderful memory!

[@kelliwilliams6400]

@@-jank-willson Not that I recall but I'm not sure. I was pretty young and I only got to stay with him for a couple of months in the spring/summer and, sometimes, during the winter for a week or 2.

[@kelliwilliams6400]

@@fortheloveofchocolat Thank you! It brought back so many joyful memories.

[@SirManDudeGuy1]

How did it taste

[@leytonbennet2692]

I remember learning all about this as a kid, being from the Canadian prairies. Our teacher even brought some to class one day and it tasted pretty much like jerky.

[@killerdustbunnies]

if you go to most of the provincial parks they do cooking/food activities that include pemmican tasting

[@hersirhakarl2109]

I learned about it from The Swiss Family Robinson (Wyss translation) and Louis L'amour novels.

[@doahnunn472]

Nice pfp bro

[@thanakonpraepanich4284]

I only read about it in books without ever saw the picture and imagine it as a lump of pig lard in a tin with some strips of meat jerky and oats thrown in. Then again the description was for the version that went to the South Pole with Scott Expedition. This one in the video is not the same.

[@Iflie]

@@thanakonpraepanich4284 The colder an environment is the more the body craves fat to keep warm, the inuit eat straight of raw blubber. They set a group of people in a cold area once on a sort of survival thing in a tv show and they reported this craving for fat and even eyeballs started to taste good. Our winter dishes also tend to be higher in fats and fatty meats.

[@suzannehawkins383]

as a canadian who lived in Alberta for many decades, saskatoon berries are abundant. A favourite summer eveniing activity was to go to the park, pick enough saskatoon berries for 2 bowls, take them home, rinse, and put them over ice cream, wonderful

[@arloj5479]

I live by the bow river. I agree, picking saskatoons is a lovely summer activity. I've definitely got to freeze a bag this year!

[@darylfaulkner4882]

Saskatoons are the best thing ever on ice cream. Or in oatmeal. Or in pie. Or just right off the bush!

[@dictatorofcanada4238]

Here in Manitoba we pick and freeze them and I eat them in pies, or with yogurt or cereal.

[@paulapridy6804]

My Lakota Souiix friend told me they made pemmican with dried cherries. She called it "summer pemmican". It has less fat and was kind of loose rather than packed tight. Her mom would make it when she was home from the boarding school the Catholics ran for the government.

[@kaakrepwhatever]

Some years back I was introduced to the idea of pemmican, and that it could be made with dried fruit. So I ground up some sort of dried fruit, mixed with hamburger and salt, rolled out thin, cut into bars, and dried in a 160 degree food dehydrator. I ate it on long hikes in the Rockies. Maybe I should make some more. Now.

[@gwynvyd]

I made this with my Cherokee Grandmother for "just in case" hard times and Winter storms. We added salt, pepper, honey, cranberries, and Juniper berries. Also, when you add in the fat to your dried meat if you add it in a pot and warm it together it helps with the saturation and the flavor. Otherwise you end up with just a mouth coated in fat. Our meat was dried in our outdoor smoker. So the meat tasted really good and was seasoned. To this day I still crave it. It is how Bear and gamey meat was used.

[@SingingSealRiana]

I also thought of adding cranberries for their availability and balanced taste, but the combination with juniper sounds fantastic ^^ Thanks for sharing ^^

[@davidhammond8098]

Would you be able to ship a sample so that I can taste it? For compensation

[@gwynvyd]

@@davidhammond8098 I no longer have a smoker, nor any bear or venison sadly. But the basic steps they took with my add ons would be good.

[@carolharris2357]

I bet the juniper was interesting.

[@carolharris2357]

@@gwynvyd i got a smoker years ago and barely got to use it and I believe it was stolen from some stuff in storage.

[@jaceskunky]

our family had a recipe from a Indigenous Lakota friend that used dried blueberries and honey and it was quite good. I would go into a pot with onions and carrots and a little flour this was one of my favorite backpacking meals. We used venison and sometimes duck since my Grandfather Frank was a hunter.

[@janedoe4316]

This sounds very good! You should record the recipe for your descendants!

[@frankytheimmortal8527]

I’m kind of interested in this recipe! Any chance you could share it around?

[@jaceskunky]

@@frankytheimmortal8527 I will call my grandma Vivian later its nearly the same tho dry the neat powder it add fat dried blueberries and I think its two tablespoons of honey per lb of meat

[@JohnSmith-rr3pq]

@@jaceskunky did you find the recipe?

[@andrew1575]

I started making pemmican at the beginning of the pandemic, but I used whatever seasonings I had laying around and usually blueberries and raspberries, dried, wrapped, vacuum sealed, and stored in my fridge. I even made one with pineapple, but I use coconut oil instead of suet. The bricks from 2020 still taste fine, as I bring them hunting with me to eat. It's Feb 2023 right now.

[@adammcinnes5615]

Thank you for doing a video telling parts of the story of my nation! I am Métis (generally pronounced like "may-tea" in English), and my ancestors were from the Scottish parishes of the Red River. My ancestors would likely have been directly and indirectly involved in the pemmican trade during the fur trade. I am friends with a Métis chef who used to work at an Indigenous heritage site and I know a few Métis academics, so if there is anything that I can do to help with your future episode, please let me know. From my research on pemmican, I found that the lowest quality pemmican was made from suet fat, the next best quality was made from marrow fat (collected by boiling bones broken open), and the highest quality was made from udder fat. I live in Saskatoon, SK, and it was only in the last few years that I have learned that saskatoon berries are called juneberry and serviceberry in other places (also, here we call chokeberries chokecherries); adding dried berries to the pemmican reduced the shelf life of the pemmican, but it was called ceremonial and wedding pemmican. I have never heard of adding sugar. From those that I know who speak Michif (a language spoken by many Métis; an Elder that I am friends with is one of the foremost experts of it as a spoken language), and you are pronouncing rubaboo pretty much correctly.

[@jodycarter7308]

I was laughing at his metis pronunciation too

[@jodycarter7308]

Send him sime Saskatoon berries, they'd be way better than choke berries. I'm sure he could find something interesting to do with them

[@Ivehadenuff]

Thanks for sharing your history!

[@Zastrava]

@@jodycarter7308 Can't transfer saskatoons across the US/Canadian border, unfortunately. I found that one out the hard way.

[@Zastrava]

Using IPA, Metis would be /meɪˈtiː/! Really excited me as well that Max is telling the story of our nation. And for what its worth, choke cherries and choke berries are two different things. Choke cherries are prunus verginiana, tribe Amygdaleae, and choke berries are in the genus aronia. Choke berries are in the same subtribe Malinae as saskatoons (amelanchier) and will taste similar to that! Interestingly though they're all members of the Rosaceae family. Saskatoons (amelanchier alnifolia) are a type of serviceberry and distinct from juneberry (amelanchier lamarckii). I've been doing a lot of research into them and I'm trying to get saskatoons to grow in Nebraska. I'm also Metis, my ancestors were also in the Scottish parishes around Saint Andrew's! I grew up in Winnipeg. I prefer no acute accent mark on Metis as it acknowledges that we are a linguistically and religiously diverse nation rather than exclusively of those descended from First Nations and Catholic / French folk. My ancestors were Protestant and spoke Bungee and sadly stopped speaking the language in the 40s.

[@justme0910]

I love seeing all the indigenous folks in the comments sharing their own tips, recipes and pemmican-related anecdotes 💗

[@cthulhu888]

Me too! It's so nice to see old ways and traditions still being kept alive today and shared with us normie folk 😊❤️‍🔥

[@VunderGuy]

You mean indian folk. Next you'll be calling Latinos LatinX's unironically.

[@nahor88]

It's fascinating how these themed videos draw out the most niche sects of the youtube community you didn't even know existed. Best Ever Food Review Show also does that when Sonny visits some random part of some random country in the middle of nowhere; you can be guaranteed a person from that region will find the video and be the top comment. I didn't even know Pemmican was a real thing; I thought it was just a beef jerky brand.

[@suckston]

@@VunderGuy theres a massive differece between calling native american indigenous folks which is accurate (and certainly more accurate than indian folk) and this latinx bullshit. why are you being difficult?

[@cthulhu888]

@@VunderGuy no im just your average white guy actually, a "normie" who likely wouldn't ever know of something like pemmican existing without vids like these being shared to everyone not close to any indian communities or customs

[@annarainexo]

You’ve made this Mohawk Canadian very happy❤️ I love watching people explore indigenous foods, and learn about the correct North American history. Much love

[@Jp75402]

Indians came from Asia so they weren’t indigenous

[@maryrhudy9250]

In my reading on the race to the South Pole, I found some interesting facts that tell us how Amundsen got there and back without a single case of scurvy and without losing a single man. When he was trying to sail the Northwest Passage, he got frozen in. That gave him and his men plenty of time to learn a panoply of survival skills from the Inuit. Amongst these was how to make pemmican. Living near the Arctic Circle, the Inuit burn insane amounts of calories every day. Thus the insane amounts of fat used. As to the berries, they wouldn't have known this back in the day, but the berries are a rich source of vitamins, especially Vitamin C, which prevents scurvy. When Amundsen was prepping for his South Pole run, he ordered tons of pemmican made to his own recipe which added honey for extra carbs and calories. They would be eating fresh meat as well, but a huge part of their diet was the pemmican, because the men were burning 10,000 to 20,000 calories per day. The pemmican helped to keep their bodies from cannibalizing their muscles for protein, which is one thing that killed Scott's group. They hadn't brought the right food or anywhere near enough of it. I keep trying to find his recipe, so far no luck.

[@JaneAustenAteMyCat]

That's really interesting. I remember that it was used a lot during Shackleton's attempt to reach the South Pole, probably helping to save the lives of the crew

[@ScottPalmer-mp1we]

I read that the British had disdain for what they viewed as primitive cultures and didn't try to learn anything from them. The British certainly have contributed much to scientific and cultural progress, but would have done well to have been humble enough to learn from others.

[@alalalala57]

​​​@@ScottPalmer-mp1weThis is a blanket statement that folks love to believe, especially amongst formerly colonized peoples like those that I come from. But, depending on where the British Empire it was and under whom the operation was led, the view varied significantly. Some imperial administrators believe British superiority got them there, thus everything else must be hogwash. Some however did believe that British superiority meant that they could "elevate" themselves beyond the "petty squabbles" of the locals and "save their heritage', even from themselves. Like, the only reason my people, Malays in Malaysia, have any information on the culture of average Malays beyond the palace walls was because a number of British administrator-scholars were interested in recording them. Dictionaries of Malay-English words, folk tales, and even foundational legends. Their administrations also collected vast amounts of data as well as archives of letters, from wayward nobles seeking aid in their power struggles to haughty merchants pleading for British intercession on legal matters. All lost, if it wasn't for their (at the time) peculiar curiosity and endless bureaucracy.

[@Sefk76]

​@@alalalala57 I love intelligent people, thank you for sharing

[@freshfrybread]

Cree-Nakoda here. Long time watcher, first time commenter. Very cool video! We still make it up here on the northern plains, but it is more of a traditional food for special events than everyday use. AND, kudos to you for eating a straight up choke-cherry/berry! Lol. We don’t eat them straight up because they are super dry, sour, etc all at the same time. We usually mix our pemmican with Saskatoons, so that was awesome to hear you share that part. Keep up the great vids! EDIT: fun fact, a First Nation dug up an old pemmican stash from over 150 years ago and found it to still be edible. Although, I would not want to try it!

[@dl2725]

😮

[@jennydelgado8517]

Wish my peoples recipes had been around this long Spain killed them and unfortunately a lot of their history, culture, and language….my islands tripe were Tainos ._.

[@sarahnunez318]

@@jennydelgado8517 Hello Dominican fellow!

[@Riot_Bird]

That is so cool

[@-jank-willson]

what I find super cool is that acorn flour (that had been processed to remove the tanins) was a huge part of the south-eastern Indian's cooking and diet, it was a staple like wheat flour is to us. this is why white oak acorns are so large, originally they were much smaller, but selective breeding by the natives forcible evolved them to be larger. This is why red oak acorns are much smaller, because they were never eaten, because they have much higher tanin content than even white oak acorns, so even with processing, you couldn't get the tanins out, so they were never commonly eaten.

[@anufoalan]

As an Indigenous person (I’m Métis! I’m so excited that that was also in the video) I’m so happy to finally see a pemmican video, we just made some last year, with moose (hunted) and Saskatoons (grown by myself). I’m also really glad you discussed he pemmican wars, I’d also be interested in seeing you cover the Northwest Rebellion and the after effects of that.

[@BaconIover69]

That sounds delicious, I only made some with beef (there are no moose in Germany).

[@johnree6106]

On a side note while no disrespect to your ethnicity everyone born in a area is indigenous to the area. Sorry it just gets on my nerves about the word. Also Native Americans I always found funny as your ethnicity actually migrated here long ago. I would rather Native Americans be referred to by their tribes as the very little I know about them I believe that they have different customs and a culture that can't be lumped under just Native Americans. Hopefully you are not one of those who automatically takes offense. I just think that lumping everyone under Native Americans is a disservice.

[@stargirl7646]

That’s awesome!

[@DamienDarkside]

@@johnree6106 You'll find that you don't need to share you opinion all the time. First you go off on "no disrespect to your ethnicity", then passively invalidate their existence by saying "I always found funny as your ethnicity actually migrated here long ago" as if that actually makes any difference. Congratulations you understand that the first humans used the Bering Strait to get here, they're still indigenous to the area. That's why we call their tribes "First Nations". "I would rather Native Americans be referred to by their tribes as the very little I know about them I believe that they have different customs and a culture that can't be lumped under just Native Americans." Same as the Italians, Germans, French, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish, Swiss, English, Danes, Welsh, and many others when you say collectively "European". It's as if we know that "North American" doesn't just mean "American" but also "Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans". It isn't a disservice when First Nations are asking you to refer to them as such. It very much is a YOU problem when you don't like semantics of a common tongue.

[@breedv]

I was coming to the comments to ask about the Saskatoon berries!

[@desolationdiamond1736]

This is one of the most beautiful comment sections I've ever seen. So many people connected to pemmican and its history.

[@TastingHistory]

My audience is the best

[@janakakumara3836]

Indeed. We at the Santa Monica Pemmican Connoisseurs and Enthusiasts Association, really appreciate this video.

[@tees5983]

@@TastingHistorywe would like some Hardtack Merch. Cause we’re all home click clacking like Pavlov’s dogs when you say the word lmao “Hardtack”= CLICK CLACK!!!!

[@Craterfist]

The hypothetical Pepsi-Coca Cola war you described is a common thing in the cyberpunk genre. Corporations so massive they effectively govern themselves and can raise private armies big enough to challenge actual militaries and take over smaller countries.

[@emperorfaiz]

Just like Dutch East Indie Company

[@lucamckenn5932]

We did have this kind of in history with us marines invading central America for bananas to sell. Not nearly as dramatic and theatrical as a cyberpunk corpowar but truth is often stranger than fiction.

[@xHomu]

PepsiCo could have easily burned down Atlanta (again) with the navy acquired from the former USSR.

[@shahramtondkarmobarakie1824]

Hypothetical you say? in the cold war coca cola literally raised fa*cist de*th squads in guatemala resulting in massive conflicts and MASS graves all for the sake of keeping their profit record, something the american fruit company also tried to do but failed in cuba after their wage slavery was ended abruptly by Fidel castro and the new revolutionary government. Capitalism itself is the dystopia it tries to project other alternatives as.

[@cammobunker]

Living history Mountain Man here. Many of the old Mountain Men would visit one particular tribe to buy their "trail food" for the winter. Different tribes would use different recipes; dried cherries, dried camas root, dried rose hips, buffalo, venison, ect. It is always MUCH better with meat dried over a smoky fire for flavor (such as it is) but I've tried it with several different recipes from various western tribes and I have to say that none of it is much of a taste treat. It'll keep you alive in the starving times, pilgrim, and that's about all it's supposed to do. It's best (for values of "best") when boiled into a stew with some kind of fresh or preserved vegetable if at all possible...but it's not really something you'd be looking forward to all day unless you had nothing else...which is what it's intended for. When there's no game, no fish, nothing else to eat...there is Pemmican.

[@monicanlamppost9631]

We (Blackfeet) made this with sarvis berries or choke-cherries. I thought berries was one of the main ingredients in pemmican, but I guess not everywhere. Chokecherries are definitely called that for a reason - the tannins make your mouth feel dried out, which you can feel is either weird or kind of addictive. They don't have much flavor fresh, but they are absolutely delicious if you cook them down into a syrup or jelly. Sarvis berries are also not as sweet or showy as you might expect from modern commercial berries, but they have a complex flavor (subtle spices and vanilla with a little bit of blueberry) and I like that they're not overly sweet. They're my favorite berry!

[@markhedger6378]

They have the highest vitamin c and isoflaven content more than blueberries etc

[@dottiscamprunamuck2830]

I've been calling them service berries for the longest time😄(darn book) & I passed them by for years before that, not knowing they were edible.

[@jimtomczak7374]

What climates do Sarvis berries grow in. It sounds like an adventure to grow and eat them.

[@jasonv.5938]

I'm also Blackfoot, and I thought the same thing. All the pemmican I've had included berries.

[@monicanlamppost9631]

@@dottiscamprunamuck2830 I think they have different spellings?

[@mistertaz94]

I remember the old Townsend episode so I love this blast from the past. Keep up the good work and god bless Max!

[@TastingHistory]

The OG

[@cartercampbell9172]

That's exactly who I immediately thought of

[@Doughboydanny]

That would explain urge to put nutmeg into the recipe.

[@presidentsnow7315]

Saskatoon berries are called "Juneberries" in the U.S.

[@joshk5686]

Or serviceberry

[@Pip8448]

Thank you! :)

[@tinkerne-round4079]

More in the northern states and are ready in July.

[@phillipbampton911]

Okay, "furriner" here. I get confused enough that you call scones biscuits and then don't even call biscuits biscuits. Now you tell me that juneberry and serviceberry are not just the same berries but that a few miles north they have a third name? That's enough for me, dammit. I'm calling it a night. 😀

[@RickCobra710]

And the snozzberries taste like snozzberries

[@nolanmaisey]

It's very cool to see my people (the Métis) mentioned by someone not from Canada! Also, did you know that, along with our bilingual nature, we formed our own language: Michif. It's a mix of French noun and Cree verb structures. (Also also, the mention of Sam Steele was very surprising, this video is very Canadian and I love it!)

[@philpaine3068]

Si bon! I love the sound of Michif. I speak French, so it's easier for me to pick out the French components, though they are often transformed a lot. You are quite right about the proportions. About 90% of the nouns and adjectives are of French origin, while all the verbs are Cree. The language is grammatically much the same as Cree and Ojibway, other than using definitive articles --- "li garsoñ [the boy], "lii kutu" ["the knives"], "mii shyaeñ" ["my dogs"]. The more successful a Métis was as a hunter, trader and guide, the more languages they had to learn. It was not unusual for a Métis family like the Isbisters to know a dozen languages between them. Michif is still going strong --- maybe a thousand speakers in Canada, though they are pretty scattered. . . . . And don't forget that there was a sister language, Bungee, that used Gaelic words. I'm told a few people can still speak it, but I've never heard who or where. Let's not forget how much the Highland Scots and Orkneymen were a powerful cultural influence on the Canadian West, and especially on First Nations. When I visited the Orkney Islands a few years ago, I found a local bake shop making %100 absolutely genuine bannock, using rye flour, in exactly the way Cree grandmothers do in Northern Ontario. Cree fiddlers play the old music of the Orkneys. I mentioned the Métis Isbister family --- that name is a old local one in the Orkneys, and I walked through the tiny village of Isbister. The Orkney Islanders remember well their three hundred years of connections to the First Nations of Canada.

[@louisliu5638]

Sam's room at Ft. Steele is set up just the way he used it. People role play from that era at the fort during the summer. It also has "Chanteclar" chickens, the only all Canadian developed breed.

[@gordn_ramsi]

I read up on this a bit and I find it a very romantic passage of history. When it comes to stories about Europeans interacting with indigenous peoples of pretty much any other continent, the stuff that sticks out is often about humans being extremely cruel toward other humans. It's nice to know tales of love and kindness exist among those of sorrow.

[@philpaine3068]

@@gordn_ramsi From the very beginning, the Métis People were proud of the culture that they created for themselves. They never conceived of themselves as a mere "half-way" or compromise between Europeans and First Nations [especially since some Africans and Asians were also drawn into their numbers]. Instead, they chose to see themselves as a New People, a self-made and free society. In their Michif language, they call themselves Otipemisiwak ["people who own themselves"]. When the buffalo still lived in great herds to provide leather and pemmican, and there were no fences on the land, they roamed the prairies and mountains and forests without bowing to anyone, each person as good as any King or Queen, and organized themselves democratically, holding elections for officers assigned to specific tasks, but never submitting to arbitrary, tyrannical, or inherited rule.

[@cielmoon7131]

hi Nolan! I'm a Nolin and a métis as well, directly part of the Charles Nolin lineage! it's good to see another!

[@SuperDaveP270]

You, Townsends, and Sohla, have all done a wonderful job of tying food with culture in your teachings of history, which is always just fascinating, and oftentimes provides something more tangible than just talking about wars or rulers, because food is something we can all relate to, obviously! Thank you!

[@panderson9561]

I first heard of pemmican watching Townsends channel...probably 4 or 5 years ago. He made the claim that it could last 40 years, just depending on how you make it. Not sure I would want to try 40 year old anything.

[@JohnDoe-420]

Without moisture or bacteria, some foods can theoretically last indefinitely... I definitely would not want to try it either though, it is putting a lot of faith in the preparation and storage conditions

[@neoqwerty]

@@panderson9561 Not even, say, whiskey or wine or other spirits? Cause that's a very common aged thing to drink. Also, there's archeologists who sampled 4000 years old honey and vinegar, which were also still good. It's all in the preparation and in the conditions it's left in.

[@panderson9561]

@@neoqwerty Fine, you watch it for 4,000 years and then let us know how it was prepared and what condition it had been left in for that 4,000 years.

[@linshannon4480]

This was such a nostalgic episode, Max! My aunt's second husband had a pemmican recipe handed down by his grandmother. The original meat for them was buffalo, but also venison. I remember him and my grandad hunting every fall for a stag from which they saved the winter's supply of meat and pemmican. When I was little, it seemed the most exotic treat imaginable. Then I tasted it! Ugh, ick! My grandmother made some changes to the recipe, Craisins instead of the bitter chokeberries and beef suet instead of Crisco. The end result was far more palatable, if not quite the original. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.

[@excession3076]

Just a quick question if you can answer, When you say "suet" (as Max did), do you mean fat already mixed with flour as that is what "suet" is in the UK, or pure fat (called lard/dripping here)? Thanks.

[@susanohnhaus611]

@@excession3076 suet is specifically the fat surrounding the kidneys. the stuff mixed with flour wouldn't do at all. I think that's probably to keep it suspended in batter for even distribution.

[@trinityzaku]

@@excession3076 Here in the States Lard and Suet are two different animals, literally. Suet, which as susan said is fat specifically from around the kidneys (but can include the loins), is from generally beef but can be lamb as well. Lard on the other hand is fat specifically from pigs. Lard being roughly the pig equivalent to Tallow which is again generally from beef or lamb and Tallow is generally made with Suet. Lots of names for different fats from different animals.

[@Santor-]

Crisco most definitely wasn't in the "original" recepie, as its a modern industrialized fake fat, aka trans-fat.

[@AdmiralStoicRum]

@@excession3076 they mean the the renderings of the fat from beef, not exclusively the fat from around the kidneys. Lard is from pigs. Tallow i guess is the actual term.

[@annew8365]

Bonjour Max! En tant que canadienne, j'apprécie le clin d'œil à notre histoire. 🤗🇨🇦 I can’t believe they had to say that the hairy side of the skin pouch should be on the outside. 🙄 The indigenous hunters used to herd bison over cliffs (buffalo jumps) where they would be gathered and butchered and processed in nearby camps. It’s pretty amazing to see some of the sites, like Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, which is a World Heritage Site.

[@madtabby66]

Just down the street from me!

[@kyrap5385]

Hi Max! I was so excited to see this episode, because I am Métis myself, my family hailing from what is now Northern Alberta, Canada, and I am also very interested in Métis history! (One note though - it's pronounced closer to may-tee) One of my ancestors hosted Alexander Mackenzie in a fur trading fort on his journey across North America, which Mackenzie recorded in his journals! Pemmican is such a significant food in Métis history and culture due to its importance during the fur trade, which you touched on. Your Pepsi vs. Coca Cola analogy was interesting, but I just wanted to point out that it missed a lot of important aspects of the Pemmican Wars - see it wasn't just two private companies raising support, but rather the Hudson's Bay Company and Northwest Company were very much proxies of English and French government influence, respectively. The Métis people that the Pemmican Proclamation targeted relied on buffalo hunting and pemmican trading for not just a significant part of their own diet, but the backbone of their livelihood during a rapidly developing part of the fur trade, that saw the Métis people facing loss of their traditional land in the Red River Settlement to the newly arriving British settlers/colonists, and a threat upon their very ways of life. Of course, I realize you are simplifying a complex narrative into a couple of minutes. I could go on forever, but I encourage those who are interested to look into the Red River Settlement, the Red River Resistance, Métis Scrip, and the Numbered Treaties (the Canadian Encyclopedia site is pretty good). I'd also like to mention that saskatoon berries are the absolute best!! My favourite dessert in the world is saskatoon berry pie with ice cream! If you're ever up in northern Canada, you'll have no trouble getting ahold of them! I have fond memories of picking ice cream buckets full of saskatoon berries by the river from bushes that were sagging from the weight of so many berries! Lastly, I'd love to recommend checking out the Gabriel Dumont Institute's Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture, which includes an impressive image collection for all your pemmican-related interests!

[@roanezra]

Thank you for this, I also thought the Pepsi analogy was lacking some important depth.

[@Wolfman6743]

I'm glad for your confirmation of the pronunciation of Métis. I'm Canadian from European descent, but I was always taught "may-tee." I'm glad to hear I was taught properly!

[@blixten2928]

Thank you, so much history here...!

[@ccwestgmail]

Came to the comments point out much of what you've already mentioned, so marsee cousin. I was happy to hear the initial mention of our ancestors but then disappointed at the glossing over if their demise at the hands of colonialism. If anyone wants the long version of the story, please read The North-West is our Mother by Jean Teillet.

[@neoqwerty]

@@roanezra I mean technically Pepsi and Coke did a number on... I think the Filippines? Or maybe it was an African country, or both-- I tend to confuse all the big brands, they all did shitty and unethical things to exploit resources and get market monopolies in developping societies.

[@svenjohanson6993]

I can see this is already getting a lot of attention from the other Canadian fans of the show which is great! The Hudson's Bay Company actually does still exist today, though in a drastically different capacity. These days, the bay is a department store that sells upscale goods. During the pandemic, the original Hudson's Bay Company building was forced to close in Winnipeg, and now it has been given over to the indigenous people, such as the Métis who originally inhabited the area!

[@danieledugre1837]

Hello from Quebec! Just went to The Bay last week!

[@djdissi]

Also from Quebec, now in Toronto, still shop there often... hello and salut!

[@13374me]

Oddly enough it also still exists in Europe. It was the weirdest thing ever to see a giant Bay store in Amsterdam lol

[@RandyFortier]

It really is nice to see all these fellow canucks in the comments! I knew we all had good taste.

[@jodycarter7308]

@@djdissi bonjour/hi, from the 514

[@vociferonheraldofthewinter2284]

My mother was a cook. Specialized baker, but she didn't stop there. At one point she challenged herself to make jack rabbit delicious. She experimented for an entire winter before nailing it. Yes, she succeeded. Her pemmican recipe used dried meat and dried blueberries. The blueberries were also powdered. Pork lard was important for the choice of fat because it melts at mouth temperature, so you don't get that nasty coating of fat all over your teeth and tongue. (Pro-tip: Pork lard melts are human body temperature so it doesn't fight you as much as other fats. This is why pork is delicious. Seriously. That's the pig's big secret.) One version tasted similar to sweet jerky. The variety of dried meat (yes, some was jack rabbit - along with beef, pork, elk and deer) was smoked to give that lovely, smokey flavor, then dried, powdered (whatever was on sale or being thrown away) berries, honey or brown sugar, and lots of salt. She was inspired by sugar cured smoked salmon. She also adapted jerky spice mixes to pemmican. It works really well, but you do have to pull back on the ratio. Again, pemmican only really can reach "good" level if you use lard. If you don't, you'll always be fighting that nasty cold fat issue. She loved to take low quality, freezer-burned, three year old game meat and turn it into treasure. With ALL that said, although of course the hunters/adventurers/soldiers did eat pemmican cold, much of the time they had the time to warm it, boil it, or fry it. They talk about that at length in their diaries and letters. If anyone tries it cold, they'll understand why a hungry man would take 20 minutes to alter it before eating it. Even the Romans were experimenting to make their food more palatable. I think that's fascinating commonality we all have with people of the past. Gross things are gross. Good is GOOD. We all agree there's a difference. Historically, understand that the fat content of pemmican was important from a health perspective and it was significantly high. Protein and sugar weren't enough. The berries don't have enough sugar to carry a man through. It takes work to alter protein into energy and doesn't satiate. (Look up 'rabbit starvation.') That leaves fat, and it was a vital energy source for those hard tasks. It offers the most concentrated amount of energy we have available for our bodies. They didn't skimp on that in the pemmican. From a palate perspective, the percentage was discouragingly high. They didn't just use 'enough to hold it together.' But we're talking about making it tasty. Different topic.

[@cirkleobserver3217]

You really packed this comment with useful info, appreciated.

[@Serene80]

To be even more authentic, maple sugar (which is the only 'sugar' Native Americans had) would probably be LOVELY!!!

[@grumblefkitty]

@@Serene80 especially with that smoke flavor

[@oldcorpsl4905]

Military survival training teaches us to eat heart, liver, lungs. The brain is fatty. Eat it. Eating lean protein only will eventually take you down. Right you are!

[@3516C]

What did the buffalo say to his son when he went off to college? "Bison."

[@anonymoose9315]

I’ve always wanted to make this! Also, not sure if you are aware but Weird History did a video on Titanic food 11 days ago and most of the comments are telling viewers to “check out Tasting History With Max Miller” just an FYI.

[@jmrqe12]

I’ve been making pemmican for years and I love it, but only because of my special secret ingredient, which I will reveal now. Truffle salt. Seriously. It’s a game changer. Also, if I’m feeling saucy, I’ll pop it in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds to soften it up. With the truffle salt and the softened fat, it brings out an umami character is amazing. This is making me want to make some right now.

[@Iflie]

It does sound like a high calorie food for a snack, though I suppose it will fill you up much longer than a bag of crisps.

[@thebiggestpanda1]

How much salt to a pound?

[@angelaspears4457]

That sounds amazing!

[@asskicker4000]

I didn't know truffle salt was a thing

[@sonipitts]

Oooo...I bet mushroom powder would be an excellent addition, as well.

[@allanfulton7569]

Being Canadian with family of native Canadian heritage I've tried multiple different types of pemican and moose elk beef or especially bison is my favorite. The only one I've had that added blueberries was OK but I prefer no fruit added but there are a lot of recipes that add cranberry or other dried fruits but blueberries are the only one I've tried are OK.

[@angeljamais8541]

... one might speculate that the berries were meant to add vitamins to the mix ...

[@nicolechafetz3904]

Salmon pemmican is the star of Seattle pemmicans. 😆😆😆

[@allanfulton7569]

@@angeljamais8541 agreed because most recipes have berries in them.

[@Edna2u]

@@angeljamais8541 Vitamin C

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

@@angeljamais8541 Would also in theory lessen the effects of things like scurvy and other such vitamin deficiencies, though their chances on land were less I expect.

[@jamesharbinger1711]

Ex Boy Scout of troop 1325 here! Pemmican was an absolute fantastic stuff we made. Hilariously, most of us loved it, and while we certainly didn’t make it with the same ingredients, it was a great snack while in the mountains

[@lunasophia9002]

As a big RimWorld fan, everything about this is super intriguing :D I feel like I gained a level in cooking just by watching this!

[@AmandaTroutman]

@_____ sometimes it's a hard winter and the Pyromaniac that raids you needs to be put to some use...

[@USSLongIslandCVE1]

Thanks for the new hat! I gotta say, its got a pretty weird texture, what kind of leather is it made from?

[@omegaweltall2001]

@@USSLongIslandCVE1 It’s Italian leather.

[@TheCheat_1337]

@_____ Don't worry, it's uh Alphabeaver

[@Strategiain]

Ingredients: human meat*, corn (* only stacks with similar meals)

[@douglasgrant2190]

After reading the first few hundred comments... Just wow! It's amazing how much cultural knowledge is being collected here, and how good and gentle people are being to each other. Food truly brings us together.

[@carlunn9377]

i havent made pemican but i have read a few survival guides on how its made and most recommend drying below 150 degrees in order to preserve the water soluble vitamins in the meat. the fat ratio you have correct but the type of fat should be tallow because it has a higher melting point and will keep the meat solid in most temperature controlled climate.

[@Feribrat99]

that and the fact that there is only suet around the kidneys of most modern beasties. Used to work in the local meat dept. of a store.

[@goiterlanternbase]

@@helpmboab2034Don't worry to much about pathogens. Most of them leave this plain of existence at 162F after 15 seconds. Especially those who one really should worry about, like worm eggs or clostridium. Afterwards, there is a nice rule, that 20% of either alcohol, sugar, salt or any mix thereof will prevent microbial spoilage indefinitely.

[@amac6421]

I really appreciate that it was scientifically named bison 3 times and we still called it a buffalo

[@thenoblesavage9984]

Thank you Max for talking about Native American History. It is the time of year we call "Dry meat" season. Many families in my area like to make pemmican, and dry meat and juneberries (Saskatoon's) are a hot commodity. Chokecherries on the other hand don't trade as well because they grow like weeds around here but we do make use of them. Many of our stories talk about the time period you touched on. The two trading companies often used tribes for their own benefit and caused hostilities. The Iron confederation (made up of Cree, Assiniboine, and Metis) often were at war with the Blackfoot confederation.

[@Fluffymonkeyem]

One of my Choctaw ancestors wrote about pemmican in the mid 1800s. When he used the word it was referring to buffalo. He mentioned they were scoping out some new territory and that the pemmican were plentiful.

[@machematix]

That's super interesting! Shows how important of a staple it was.

[@discodan6671]

The native people of the Americas are truly experts at curing meats! I remember learning in college that the word for jerky comes from the Quechua word ch'arki. Cheers to them!

[@onbored9627]

I'm a chef and when I first saw Pemmican it never hit me to use it for a stew, and now it seems so obvious. Bravo.

[@DieLuftwaffel]

Hey Max, great video but there's at least one crucial point that needs covered if you want this dish to last more than a few hours at room temperature. Just using melted suet will result in quickly rotten food; you absolutely must turn it into tallow first. To do this requires chopping the suet into small pieces and cooking it on low heat (I use a crock pot) for hours. Once the fat is all melted out, strain remaining chunks from the fat and keep cooking until absolutely zero steam condensation forms on the lid. At this point, strain the fat again prefferably through a mesh like cheese cloth if you can. Chunks in the fat tend to hold residual water unless they have turned very dark and hardened. You want a melted fat with zero water content that, when it cools, is essentially a dry edible wax. Water in the meat or the fat is what leads to spoilage, and salt is 100% unnecessary in this recipe. In fact I've heard it may even be harmful to its shelf life, perhaps because it may attract ambient moisture? Also, while cooking the meat first may kill germs and be govt recommended, it was not truly cooked originally because too much heat destroys much of the nutrition value of the beef. If you simply dry it heavily, at a temperature I believe maximum of 120 F, the resulting pemmican is litterally so nutrient dense you can live off of it alone for the rest of your life with no I'll health effects. It's cool stuff, but you gotta do it right.

[@DieLuftwaffel]

Just saw the end of the video and your plans to save this for a year.. Umm, see above? You may get sick if the "pemmican" doesnt smell rotten by then. Also, dont add sugar if you want this to last long either. It feeds mold and bacteria. Even berries can compromise shelf life to some degree if used too heavily. Also, personally I find that if you make pemmican right it's somewhat addicting. Doesnt taste great when very cold, but when at room temperature or warmed in the mouth the fat reminds me of original McDonald's meat flavor (they used to cook in tallow). Also kindof like meat cooked in donut oil. Tasty, hearty stuff.

[@jillsy2815]

Wow any chance you want to sell me some of your pemmican? I'm wondering if it might help me in ultramarathons

[@DieLuftwaffel]

@@jillsy2815Well I think it definitely would especially if you went on a keto diet and made your body run on fat for energy. I made tallow recently and ate the strained extra bits (which taste good if cooked right and pressed of most of their fats). Anyways, essentially had a bunch of pure beef fat before bed and woke up regretting it in the night because it felt like I'd drank 10 shots of espresso. So as long as your marathon isnt right before bed and fat is your source of fuel, it would probably energize very well. As far as me selling some, not sure if you're serious but I dont even know if it's technically legal to sell food through the mail without a licensed kitchen and business.

[@jillsy2815]

@@DieLuftwaffel Ok I'll try making it myself. I screenshot your advice🙏🏽

[@mikebreaton7910]

No ill health effects except scurvy, if all you ever ate was pemmican.

[@BozBozo]

I grew up with Metis neighbors who made pemmican every year from venison. I never particularly cared for it as is, but when they made stew, especially with the the saskatoon berries, oh, was that a treat! You really need to find a supply of saskatoons, even if It's trying the syrup or jam.

[@bowriver1]

I love to cook with pemmican, especially when I'm camping.

[@Just_Sara]

They do grow in the Pacific North West in spring/summer! At least, they do at my local park. I think.

[@athenastewart9167]

I wonder if you could make real mincemeat out of the dried meat used for pemmican.

[@ahlimahs]

I grew up in a French speaking, metis culture school in Winnipeg, jigging was an extracurricular activity, we made pemmican as a grade 4 project (beef, bison hadn't made a comeback yet), Tourtière, Pea soup & creton were served on celebration days, along with a maple sugar boil every winter, it's interesting to see this history being presented, even most Manitobans dont know the history of the Métis. Any chance of doing Tourtière or creton?

[@PullingWrenches]

Wow thats aweswome. I'm from Winnipeg too, sadly my elementary didn't teach me a thing about the Métis tho, High school really wasn't much better. Only food even mentioned was bannock lol

[@fransmordin8015]

Hi fellow Manitoban. Moved to Ottawa many years ago. While growing up.in the Peg, my little neighbour, Metis taught me (PRE SCHOOL) how to make pemmican We would pretend, those were the fun days in the 50s. What a wonderful culture. I now have 2 grandkids who are about 1/16th Metis. We are proud. The first Jewish Metis. All the best from Algonquin lands.

[@scottguay2374]

I agree

[@MoonlightCharizard]

Very similar story here, but from Quebec! Creton is my absolute favourite thing in the morning ahaha

[@benjaminwilliams9869]

@@MoonlightCharizard as a Michigander with a place in Quebec, Creton is the best breakfast meal. Self cut bread, toasted, butter, then Creton. My favorite. 😁 Then Casse-croûte poutine for lunch. Cheers!

[@RobMacKendrick]

Pemmican was also used to make a rue that was used in all manner of stewed and braised dishes, some involving fruit and essentially dessert-like. (Think steamed pudding or fruitcake.) The trick, as the video points out, was to get that suet melted so you didn't have to do that yourself in your mouth.

[@OhGreatSwami]

Fun fact: The Hudson’s Bay company still exists (oldest extant incorporated company I believe) - but now it’s essentially a department store with branches across Canada

[@telebubba5527]

They tried to jump over to Europe a couple of years ago. We had a very large store here in Amsterdam (3 big buildings and a smaller one), but it never really took off for some reason.

[@DrachenGothik666]

I'm Metis and I say definitely try the stew option for your pemmican! it can be delicious! Onions and potatoes--it'll be a lot like chowder, only meaty. I used to add canned corn to mine for the sweetness and the pop the kernels made when you bit into them.😋👨‍🍳

[@svartskegg]

A family of friends of our family happened to live near an ancient trading trail north of the Beaver River in Alberta. In the 1980's they found, a number of times, caches of pemmican which turned up when they cultivated their fields. It was still edible, if rather tasteless, none of us got sick from eating it...

[@IMSeanK]

Just pre-ordered your book. Thanks for the awesome entertainment for the last few years, and for keeping it up. I was scared when you quit Disney, and love that you are following your heart and rewarding us fans Max :)

[@kathleendaugherty4218]

As an historian I have heard it referenced more times than I can count, but you are the first person to actually make it clear to me what it was. Great job!

[@persnikitty3570]

One thing about pemmican is it's a bit like beef or chicken bouillon, as in soup stock. Sure, one can eat it like a dried meaty trail snack, but from readings, I found it was most often used either as flavoring to trail soup, or as the actual soup stock. Given the nature of pemmican, a little would go a very long way as a hot meal at the end of the day.

[@chakagomez8129]

Dried mince meat is similar with beef suet raisins and spices

[@weeb3244]

Yours is one of my favorite channels; for the longest time before you started it, I was always surprised that nobody seemed to be interested in trying to show the food that existed throughout history, as it's one of the most important parts of what causes history to happen. Been watching since the beginning, and it's great watching the channel grow. Keep up the great work!

[@jacobstrunks7293]

You have the best setups for sponsors out of any KZbin channel I’ve ever seen. You preface the argument that’ll ensue from someone by devils advocating, then keep genuinely telling the history that’s relevant, then bam now I wanna learn a new language. Phenomenal job 👏👏👏

[@hurricanedaveful]

Whoa, I never expected a tasting history episode so close to home! This is like high school history class. Also saskatoon berries are much tastier than choke cherries, or at least I think so.

[@TJ-bg4fw]

Must disagree, choke berries (or what I’ve been taught choke cherries) are incredibly tasty. Though there is a reason they have Choke in both forms of the name, you really do need a drink of water or something handy. Makes a good addition to mead too

[@tamarasawchuk468]

@@TJ-bg4fw I'll have to be someone who disagrees with your disagree lol. I can and have eaten saskatoon berries until I'm sick, then go back for more. Chokecherries, on the other hand, are nasty and make my mouth pucker worse than the judgemental babas from my home town staring at the teen couples who dare to hold hands. But to each their own, I have a huge sweet tooth and really don't like sour, so naturally saskatoons are my more favoured.

[@sammiller6631]

chokeberries are different from chokecherries

[@Gauldame]

Now we need a meal of pemmican, hardtack, edible pine, and moonshine spiked water.

[@Ironhandjohn]

With ANZAC biscuits for dessert.

[@ragnkja]

And spruce shoots.

[@Isa-it8bv]

Don't forget those ninja balls

[@callysto11]

And Mead 🍺

[@auntlouise]

When I was a child in Alaska we made pemmican (we didn't call it that, but it's pretty much the same) with ground venison and dried and ground lowbush cranberries, which was pretty tasty. We mixed them about 80/20 meat to berries and then stirred in melted deer tallow until it stuck together. We didn't make it into pucks, we just spread in on a baking sheet and let air dry for a few days (or put it in the oven on 170 for a day) and then broke it up. It was more like a ground meat jerky.

[@overratedprogrammer]

Didn't the deer fat stick to the roof of your mouth?

[@RowanAuraz]

If it helps to console you, your cat looked very satisfied!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

7:08 I’ve never seen an example of “My Cat ate my homework.” IRL 😂

[@trevorkuttler920]

Now you have done hardtack and pemmican, you should try a chuño recipe. Chuño is an ancient Andean method for preserving potatoes and they can last decades.

[@RangerMan-yv7rl]

Wow

[@mrstrider8847]

"Go ahead and blame the French" Which is exactly what I said out loud seconds before you said it. Was laughing my ass off on that one

[@jonathanbair523]

Seams like most of the names for things in the grate lakes area got the french to thank..... Or blame LOL

[@Xerxes2005]

That's strange though. Because in French we call these animals bisons. But I can see the first explorers calling them "buffles".

[@Dabednego]

I had saskatoon berries when I was in Alaska a few years ago, and they taste kind of like a woodier blueberry. My sister made a clafoutis out of them!

[@Dabednego]

ALSO as a Minnesotan I am a huge fan of chokecherry jelly. You will never eat a bare english muffin again

[@Trollioli]

The ground up meat reminds me of these snacks that were popular when I was a kid. I assume they were supposed to emulate chewing tobacco packets because they looked a lot like shredded tobacco. You would take a pinch of this shredded meat and put it in your cheek and wait for it to rehydrate with your saliva. When that happened it would be a straight trip to flavor town as your saliva became meat juice. It was actually pretty good.

[@D4rkcjinsc2]

Oh! I remember that, the jerky chew or whatever? I never realized you're supposed to let it sit, when I was a kid I just straight up ate it.

[@Trollioli]

@@D4rkcjinsc2 Yes and now if you ever see it again, you can do it right and sail away to flavor town.

[@rebeccashafer3232]

Interestingly enough, my grandfather mistakenly planted Saskatoon berry bushes in our yard that he thought were blueberry bushes. They’re smaller than blueberries with a small edible seed inside and we use them like we would blueberries. I always appreciate the effort you go to for historical accuracy, including reading all the classic literature. Two of my favorite channels are yours and Townsend & Sons!

[@DalorianShep]

Definitely made this, I used family ranch beef, rendered my own suet (so much work!), and added pine nuts and dried blueberries to some. I find the taste decent, but the tallow coats your mouth as you chew. Personally I prefer to mix it with portable soup (another long process!) and some rice and boil it. Tastes great when mixed and hot like that.

[@i2ndsight]

While traveling, put a pinch of pemikan in your cheek and as you go along it will keep you going. When you take water, swallow the moist pemikan.

[@jaegrant6441]

Sounds like that was an excellent way to prepare it

[@MrChristianDT]

Yeah, I imagine that would be better. The fat would mix with the water to make a simple broth & get mostly absorbed into the rice.

[@ericwilliams1659]

This sounds like the way to eat it. Any grain or hard tack (clack clack) would help with that greasy mouth feeling.

[@kimberlyvance3131]

Next time I’d recommend Saskatoon! You might be able to find them as June berries, they grow abundantly in the upper midwest and are definitely sweeter.

[@lacajun1]

In NW US they are Service Berries. Only grow in wild. Not domesticated. Also Chokecherries are good for jelly and syrup. Eaten fresh are very bitter.

[@AGMundy]

Max's little Bison v Buffalo routine really did make me laugh. Jamie is so greedy a cat but fun.

[@Yora21]

The American elk also isn't an elk but a different animal vaguely similar to an elk. In Europe, the word elk simply means a moose.

[@jonathanbair523]

I wonder if Jamie had to drink extra water? I was very young when I had it, must of been about 8. For some reason I just remember it made me want to drink lots of water.

[@Lucius1958]

Old Australian joke: Q. "What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison?" A. "You can't wash your fice in a buffalo." 😉

[@Pyjamarama11]

My beef pemmican has been sitting on the shelf (in a tin) for three years and I dip into it every year. Still tastes as good as the day I made it

[@werewolf2003002]

I think you and Townsends should do a video or series together, you both have a great enthusiasm for historical food

[@MsFitz134]

They did do a live conversation awhile back, I want to say two years ago? That's actually how I found this channel.

[@mimizdani8194]

at least now i understand why pemmican lasts a long time in rimworld

[@thesketchydude1315]

as a Metis I'm glad to see a bit of our culture showing up on this channel!

[@MsAabbo]

I always feel a little smarter after watching one of your many informative and entertaining videos. Just awe-/struck hearing about the two companies battling over Pemmican!When you compared the battle in Atlanta to Coke and Pepsi hiring small armies to fight it out, I was speechless!!! So so good as always!!!

[@cerveau24]

As a native french speaker, I want to say your french is really good! Not the stereotypical accent you usually hear on the internet, but rather a pretty believable accent ! Good job !

[@KorumEmrys]

In addition to using berries and sugar, I use dried blueberries or cranberries or both, I add about 1/2 cup of Honey which not only adds to its ability to stick together but adds quite a bit to the flavor. Also, if you double thr amount of dried berries you'll also get a much better flavor...

[@robertlaprairie1053]

Great video! We are from Saskatoon and my kids just had pemmican at school. You picked a great time to release this video because September 30th is Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, a day to honour Indigenous persons who never returned or survived residential schools and their communities. Thanks for doing this highly requested video!

[@mattblom3990]

As a Canadian, learning about Pemmican was part of our junior high school curriculum. It's actually amazing stuff for the time!!

[@RandyFortier]

I think that the content about the first nations varied quite a bit from place to place. We learned what pemmican was, but it was a sidenote to the whole Louis Riel saga. It really is an important part of our history. I definitely don't ever want to eat it again, but it was pretty cool. :D

[@huntermcintosh8173]

@@YourWifesBoyfriend Canada is big dude, I highly doubt any nation has a curriculum that is completely uniform throughout the entire country.

[@TheCanadianCricket]

@@YourWifesBoyfriend I'm Canadian and you are incorrect.

[@ryodark]

My mother is quite elderly but we love watching your show together and have been fans for a long time. We are Polish, and she came to the US from Poland when she was young to escape WWII. Anyway, would you ever consider making a dish from ancient Poland? I think she'd really get a kick out of it.

[@larserikertzgaardringen7426]

Famous Norwegian polar explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen used their own Pemmican-resipies for their Expeditions. When traveling in cold weather fat is extremely important to Eat.

[@sorcerersapprentice]

Canadian here. Saskatoons are super common in the prairies here, and we even have a city named after them. However, they have a short growing season (only July to be exact). As someone who had them a far bit growing up, they're like a hybrid between a blueberry and a blackberry taste wise, but look like a purple blueberry. Blueberries should do fine in the recipe.

[@ettinakitten5047]

I grew up in a small town right near Saskatoon, and my childhood home has both saskatoon berries and chokecherries growing in it. I hated chokecherries as a kid, but I loved saskatoons. When my brother was a toddler we'd pick saskatoons while he hung out in his playpen watching us, and every so often one of us would head over and feed him saskatoons, and he'd smear them all over himself and end up purple. Good times.

[@sorcerersapprentice]

@Sarafina Summers I heard somewhere that they are called "juneberries" for you guys, but however they seem to be a "testing the market" sort of thing where they are trying to figure out how to grow them in your climate and aren't mainstream for you guys yet.

[@Spiceodog]

Hey max, the reasons you can’t find Saskatoon Bertie didn’t because they aren’t sold, but foraged. They only grown in and Shortly before and after the month of June. Me and my friend foraged them in our local park. They taste similar to blueberries

[@andrewwedman3953]

In different regions of North America they are called by different names. My mother in Ontario called them Service Berries or June Berries. My father's family in Alberta called them Saskatoons. They are grown in plantations in the west where people come to pick them and do all sorts of things there. Now living in Germany I grow a variation which is being planted in many places (here called Felsenbirne, translated Rock Pear. Totally stupid name) and directly imported Saskatoons. The one variety is earlier and tastier, the Saskatoons are larger and spread out a lot. Tried drying these recently for the first time but they were not dried sufficiently and spoiled. They also did not taste that great dried. Still if that is all you have, you use what you can.

[@Spiceodog]

@@andrewwedman3953 freezing works

[@lexslate2476]

@@Spiceodog Freezing absolutely works. My family would go picking, freeze a load of 'em, and make pies later. Real nice pies, too. They are basically just large blueberries.

[@Spiceodog]

@@midwestpetalpusher yeah me and my friend harvested them from the riverfront park

[@katelist8367]

They would, therefore, probably taste better than chokecherries in pemmican

[@Lds519Mpls]

As others may have already said, blueberries are the easiest substitute for Saskatoon/Service/June berries. We had two bushes in the yard when I was a youngin, and the Native Americans would sometimes drive around the country selling berries they had picked.

[@larissabrglum3856]

Yes! Despite not being closely related, blueberries and juneberries look and taste similar.

[@scottyork8831]

The traditional berries used happen to be high in acid hence sour. Salmonella doesn't grow well in acidic environments. While it surely wasn't by design but by happenstance and observation this may explain why the addition of the berries.

[@wendynordstrom3487]

I recall reading The Birchbark House and she talks about making pemmican and pounding it till its basically powdered. If you haven't read it, DO! It's like the Native American version of Little House on the Prairie. So good! Thank you for another great video!

[@clarkesylvester4255]

Omg I'm so excited to see my own culture in one of your videos for once! I'd really love to see more Canadian indigenous recipes!

[@star-cursed]

I'm from the city of Saskatoon, and there are saskatoon berries growing eeeeverywhere here. They are mildly sweet and don't really have any tartness to them. If the colour deep purple had a taste, it would be the Saskatoon berry. We also have chokecherries which I'm assuming are the same thing as chokeberries, their skin has a very tannic taste it so they're usually used for making jam/jelly or sweetened sauces.