pemmican

or pem·i·can

[ pem-i-kuhn ]

noun

1. dried meat pounded into a powder and mixed with hot fat and dried fruits or berries, pressed into a loaf or into small cakes, originally prepared by North American Indians.

pemmican

/ ˈpɛmɪkən /

noun

1. a small pressed cake of shredded dried meat, pounded into paste with fat and berries or dried fruits, used originally by American Indians and now chiefly for emergency rations

Word History and Origins

Origin of pemmican¹

1735–45; < Cree pimihka·n, derivative of pimihke·w he makes pemmican (mixing together the grease and other ingredients), he makes grease < Proto-Algonquian *pemihke·wa, equivalent to *pemy- grease + *-ehke· make

Word History and Origins

Origin of pemmican¹

C19: from Cree pimikân, from pimii fat, grease

Example Sentences

They were an important food source for Native Americans, who used them in puddings, sauces, breads and a high-protein portable food called pemmican — a carnivore's version of an energy bar, made from a mixture of dried meat and rendered animal fat and sometimes studded with dried fruits.

From Salon

Some tribes still make pemmican today and even market a commercial version.

From Salon

Ward agrees that dehydrated foods are easy to store and transport, and looks to the past for inspiration: pemmican, a traditional U.S. and Canadian Indigenous food made from tallow, meat and sometimes berries, is a good example, as is jerky and hardtack, a dehydrated, cracker-like bread that was common fare on ships centuries ago.

From Salon

American Indian: maize, moccasin, pemmican, potato, tobacco, tomahawk, tomato, wigwam.

From Literature

“Pemmican Point, Alaska, ain’t exactly Lushburg.”

From Washington Post