---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 14:24:54 -0400
From: L-Soft list server at St. John's University (1.8c) <[log in to unmask]>
To: Karl McKinnon <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: File: "PALEOFOOD PEMMICAN"

Date: 27 Dec 1996
Sender: "Low Carbohydrate Mailing List" <[log in to unmask]>
From: Ray Audette <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Pemmican

If you are experiencing a loss of energy while exercising, the best
low-carb solution is Pemmican.  I'm not talking about the candy bar sold
at some health food stores, but the real thing invented by Native North
Americans thousands of years ago.  You must make your own as the last
known manufacturer (Armour Meat) gave up production in 1938.

This manna was important to these nomadic hunter-gathers for several
reasons:
1. It is the most concentrated food a human can carry.  1/2 pound is a
full days food ration for an adult.
2. It is the only preserved food that provides all the nutritional
requirements for a human and can be eaten exclusively for long periods of
time.  French Canadian fur traders (voyagers) would often eat it
exclusively for nine month of every year as their travels by canoe would
take them across the entire North American continent.
3. It produces the high energy necessary to walk or paddle a canoe long
distances while carrying heavy cargoes.  The voyagers were required to
carry 90 lbs. of company cargo in addition to their own equipment and
canoes.  A working day was often considered to be 16 hours long.
4. It produces almost no waste.  People eating exclusively Pemmican only
defecate (normally) once per week.
5. It will keep for 2-300 years without refrigeration if kept dry.

To make Pemmican:
1. Dehydrate strips of raw red meat.  I usually use 5lbs. of eye of round
beef for my weekly batch.  Make sure it is completely dry but not cooked.
2. Powder these dehydrated strips.  The Indians pounded them with rocks,
but I recommend a food processor.  Spices can be added at this time.
3. Prepare tallow by rendering animal fat.  I melt strips of beef fat
(free from the butcher counter) in a cast iron skillet on a low heat
until the rinds float to the surface.  I continue to heat the lard until
all moisture is removed.  It is very important to remove all water from
the fat.
4. When the resulting tallow is cool enough to touch but still liquid,
add it slowly to the meat powder until all of it is just saturated.  By
weight this is about a 60/40 meat/tallow ratio.
5. Mold the finished product into pie tins or cupcake forms.  When it
hardens you're done.
6. Store in a dry place.  I keep mine on top of my refrigerator.

>From my own and my readers experience will attest this stuff is amazing.
It seems to go directly from your mouth to your blood stream producing no
feeling of fullness only energy.  Even small amounts eliminate hunger
very quickly.  I often use it in the field when hawking in the late
afternoons so that I can keep up with my Harris Hawk, Saluki and the
rabbits and hares they are pursuing.  My wife (CPA) uses it as a
mid-afternoon pick-me-up at the office.  As it is nutritionally very
similar to human milk, my son Gray-Hawk has been eating it since he was
three weeks old and is the only 1 1/2 old that the 4 year olds at day
care are afraid of.

For more information see Vilhjamur Stefansson's book "Fat of the Land"
This work is out of print but available on line through "Bibliofind" or
through Inter Library Loan at your local library.

Ray Audette
Author "NeanderThin: A Caveman's Guide to Nutrition"