Sledging Biscuits & Antarctic Pemmican

Recipe from The Galley: Sledging Biscuits

Ingredients 

150g flour

half tsp baking soda

half tsp salt

30g full fat unsalted butter

50ml cold water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (375 F.).
2. Sieve the flour and baking soda together into a mixing bowl, then add the salt. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until you have combined the ingredients to resemble breadcrumbs.
3. Slowly mix in the water until a malleable ball of dough forms. All the dry ingredients must be evenly incorporated, yet the dough should not be sticky.
4. Lightly flour a smooth surface and roll out the dough so it is 2 cm thick (0.8 inches) and fits a large baking tray. Transfer the dough onto a lightly greased baking tray and cut into 5cm (2-inch) squares. Prick each square with a fork.
5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the dough just starts turning golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
6. Serve the sledging biscuits with sweetened tea or with pemmican spread on top.

Recipe from The Galley: Antarctic Pemmican

A simple but very effective way of making a very high energy, physically resilient and compact foodstuff from meat and fat. Pemmican can be eaten as it is, on sledging biscuits or made into a stew after minimal cooking as hoosh.

Ingredients

Lean dense meat, traditionally buffalo, reindeer (caribou) or deer but beef will work. Will need a minimum of 500g to 1kg (1.1 to 2.2 lb.)

Fat from the same kind of meat, (purchased extra fat of the same kind if there is not enough on the piece you buy) – around 250g of fat for 1kg of meat, the meat will be dehydrated and much lighter when the fat is added.

Directions 

Step 1 – Prepare the Meat

1. Turn on the oven to 170F.
2. Cut the meat into really thin strips and put them on a baking sheet. You can also put the strips directly onto the oven rack, but some drippings might get inside your oven.
3. The meat will need to dry in the oven for about 15 hours – occasionally open the oven door to release the moisture which builds up.

Step 2 – Render Fat into Tallow  

1. Remove any remaining meat which may be on the fat.
2. Cut the fat into chunks. You might also want to put it into your food processor to get it even smaller.
3. Put the fat into a big pot.
4. Cook on the lowest setting. For each pound of fat you render, you will need to cook it for about 1 hour. Yes, this will take a while! You don’t have to monitor the fat the entire time, but do occasionally check in so it doesn’t burn.
5. The fat will melt, but you will see bits floating on the top.
6. Once the bits on top are golden brown and the fat stops bubbling, then the rendering is done.
7. Strain the fat through a sieve or cheese cloth into a jar. You just want the liquid parts and not those crispy bits. When the fat (now tallow) cools, it will be a pretty golden color.

Step 3 – Ground Meat

1. Ground your meat until it is a fine meat powder. 

Step 4 – Add Fat, Stir and Pour into Moulds

1. Combine the meat, salt, and optional herbs and spices in a bowl.
2. Check the tallow is not too hot before pouring over the dry material. Combine well. There should be just enough tallow to moisten all the meat but not make puddles.

Transfer into an 8×8-inch baking dish to set. Then score into squares and store in an airtight container.

It’s also possible to roll the mixture in your hands like a meatball and form small balls.

Silicon chocolate or soap molds and standard or mini muffin size pans are also useful for forming uniform shaped pieces.

Recipes inspired by:

https://www.coolantarctica.com/schools/antarctic_sledging_biscuit_recipe.php

https://www.food.com/recipe/antarctica-sledging-biscuits-501266

https://www.coolantarctica.com/schools/antarctic_pemmican_recipe.php

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