Why it works: Meat and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 34% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,866 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Pemmican
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the meat into thin slices and allow them to dry.
Add sugar and dried fruits to the dried meat.
Mix in the fat to increase the nutritive value.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Meat + sugartop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,866 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Meat
- Forms the dense, protein-rich base once dried, giving the pemmican its body and chew.
- Fat
- Adds richness and energy density, and coats the dried meat and fruit.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the savoury meat and dried fruit.
- Dried fruits
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and fruity flavour to the dried meat.
The step that matters
Drying the meat thinly. Thin slices dry evenly. Any moisture left in the meat lets microbes grow, so the meat must be fully dry before the sugar, fruit and fat are added.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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