flipFram Pemmican, the Ration Calculated to the Gram
Fram Pemmican, the Ration Calculated to the Gram
Why this dish? Nansen personally designed and weighed the rations for the *Fram* and the Greenland crossing, optimizing the calorie-to-weight ratio. Pemmican — dried meat ground and bound with rendered fat — was the cornerstone of this ration: he had its exact composition studied, and even complained in *Farthest North* about a poorly made batch.
A dense concentrate of lean dried meat pounded into powder and mixed with rendered fat: a compact, nearly imperishable brick that provides maximum energy for minimum weight. Eaten as is in extreme cold or stirred into a hot porridge (*lapskaus* on the ice).
You see, on the ice, food is not a pleasure: it is a survival tool, and I treated it as such. I weighed every ration to the gram, because an extra kilo on the sled is a man exhausting himself for nothing. Pemmican was my best ally — dried meat ground to powder, drowned in fat, hard as wood but as nourishing as ten meals. Beware, however, of a bad batch: we once received one where the fat had been forgotten, and it was hardly better than sawdust; I flew into a scientific rage.
- •Lean dried beef — the base, dried through (proteins, preservation)
- •Rendered beef fat (suet) — in generous parts (calories, binder)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning, preservation)
- •Dried berry powder (lingonberry) — optional, a little (antiscorbutic)
Fram Pemmican, the Ration Calculated to the Gram
A dense concentrate of lean dried meat pounded into powder and mixed with rendered fat: a compact, nearly imperishable brick that provides maximum energy for minimum weight. Eaten as is in extreme cold or stirred into a hot porridge (*lapskaus* on the ice).
Why this dish? Nansen personally designed and weighed the rations for the *Fram* and the Greenland crossing, optimizing the calorie-to-weight ratio. Pemmican — dried meat ground and bound with rendered fat — was the cornerstone of this ration: he had its exact composition studied, and even complained in *Farthest North* about a poorly made batch.
You see, on the ice, food is not a pleasure: it is a survival tool, and I treated it as such. I weighed every ration to the gram, because an extra kilo on the sled is a man exhausting himself for nothing. Pemmican was my best ally — dried meat ground to powder, drowned in fat, hard as wood but as nourishing as ten meals. Beware, however, of a bad batch: we once received one where the fat had been forgotten, and it was hardly better than sawdust; I flew into a scientific rage.
Ingredients (period version)
- Lean dried beef — the base, dried through (proteins, preservation)
- Rendered beef fat (suet) — in generous parts (calories, binder)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning, preservation)
- Dried berry powder (lingonberry) — optional, a little (antiscorbutic)
Ingredients
- Lean beef (bottom round, rump steak) — 500 g (proteins)
- Beef fat or duck fat — 250 g (calories, binder)
- Fine salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
- Dried lingonberries or unsweetened dried cranberries — 50 g (acidity, vitamin C)
Method
- Slice the beef very thinly and dry in the oven at 70 °C (160 °F), door slightly open, for 6–8 hours until brittle.
- Grind the dried meat into a coarse powder with the salt and dried berries.
- Melt the fat gently, skim, then pour hot over the meat powder.
- Mix until a cohesive paste forms, press firmly into a mold.
- Let set in a cool place; unmold and cut into bars. Keeps for weeks.
- To eat: nibble as is, or crumble into hot water for a comforting porridge.
How it was made : Pemmican originated with the First Nations of North America; European polar explorers adopted it in the 19th century as ideal marching food. Nansen had the formula scientifically studied, but the process remained artisanal: meat dried in the wind or over a fire, pounded, and set in hot poured suet.
The contemporary twist : Served as a mignardise on a slate board, in thin slices with a streak of lingonberry gel — a gastronomic nod to the raw sled brick.
Sources : Fridtjof Nansen, *Farthest North* (Fram over Polhavet, 1897) · Fridtjof Nansen, *The First Crossing of Greenland* (Paa ski over Grønland, 1890)
Fridtjof Nansen · Charactorium
