any one heard of indian meal?apparantly trappers/mountain men used to make it.
does anyone know how to make it?
does anyone know how to make it?
indian meal???
- Thread starter wolf
- Start date
Hmmmm could it be talkin about meal made from acorns,
or maybe meal made from what we call cattails here in the South...
I have heard if you soak acorns in water and change the water a few times then blanche them and let them dry for a few days they can be ground into a cornmeal consistancy. It can be used for bread and cakes. I have also learned the pollen off the cattail heads can be used the same way.
~Hawk
or maybe meal made from what we call cattails here in the South...
I have heard if you soak acorns in water and change the water a few times then blanche them and let them dry for a few days they can be ground into a cornmeal consistancy. It can be used for bread and cakes. I have also learned the pollen off the cattail heads can be used the same way.
~Hawk
wasn't it part of the spell that Huck used to rid himself of warts that night in the graveyard with Tom?
wolf said:any one heard of indian meal?apparantly trappers/mountain men used to make it.
does anyone know how to make it?
Hi mate
you find it in Camping and Woodcraft from Kephart
The chapter on concentrated food
"Rockahominy is nothing but Indian corn parched without burning, and reduced to Powder. ...snip......By what I have said, a Man needs not encumber himself with more than 8 or 10 Pounds of Provision tho´he continue half a year in the woods.
Thes and his Gun will support him very well, during the time, without the least danger of keeping one Single Fast."
snip....
"Their Psindamocan or Tassmanane, as they call it, is the most nourishing and durable food made out of the Indian corn. The blue sweetish kind is the grain which they prefer for that purpose. They parch it in clean hot ashes, until it bursts; it is then sifted and cleaned , and pounded in a mortar into a kind of flour,
and when they wish to make it very good, they mix some sugar, maple sugar, with it. When wanted for use, they take about a tablespoonful of this flour in their mouths, then stooping to the river or brook, drink water to it. If, however, they have a cup or other small vessel at hand, they put the flour in it and mix it with water, in the proportion of one tablespoonful to a pint.
...snip....
With this food the traveler and warrior will set out on long journeys and expeditions, and as a little of load of provisions to carry. Persons who are unacquainted with this diet ought to be careful not to take too much at a time, and not to suffer themselves to be tempted too far by its flavor; more than one or two spoonfuls, at most, at any one time or at one meal is dangerous; for it is apt to swell in the stomach or bowels, as when heated over a fire."
The best of our border hunters and worriors, such as Boone and Kenton and Crockett relied a good deal upon this Indian dietary when staring on their long hunts, or when undertaking forced marches more formidable than any that regular troops could have withstood.
....snip......
hope that helps mate
cheers
Abbe
andyn
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Abbe that sounds like a pretty interesting meal..not quite the Chicken Korma that I was thinking of when I read the title of the thread 
There is another food that the indians made that consisted of rendered fat, meat and berries, but I forget the actual ingredients and name it has come to be known by. Perhaps someone else has that information and also how to prepare it.
I can vouch for parched corn as a trail food. I lived on it for several weeks and even though I lost a little weight, I was strong and fit at the conclusion.
I can vouch for parched corn as a trail food. I lived on it for several weeks and even though I lost a little weight, I was strong and fit at the conclusion.
RovingArcher said:
Here you go:
Old style pemican: 1/2 dried meat pounded into 1/2 rendered fat by weight, with seasonal berries added if available. Sealed in leather "parfleche" and used for long travels along with parched corn. The Metis in the Manitoba's used to sell pemican to the Hudson's Bay Company to feed the the Yorkshire Men in the Yorkshire boats that later transported the furs to the Hudson's Bay. This was during and after the "Voyageurs" and the fight between the Hudson's Bay Co. and the Norwester's Co. based in Montreal. Excellent fare for travel at that time bland and tiresome by today's taste but did the job.
(got that recept from someone one day, dont remember the author; Abbe)
cheers
Abbe
Abbe Osram said:
Well if that isn't flour made from popcorn, I don't know what is!
ATB
Ogri the trog
I remember I could buy in england "blue mexican chips" which where made from bluish corn. I havent see it here in sweden. Would be cool to buy it, I would like to try it out myself while being in the woods. I am going to check if I can order it online or get somehow my hand on the stuff. ;-)
cheers
Abbe
cheers
Abbe
Abbe and Scott, thanks for your replies. That certainly is what I was asking about.
Parched corn isn't actually popped corn. The corn is roasted until the hard shell bursts open and it is about to become popped corn and it is a nice lite brown colour. It has much the same consistency as corn meal, but is much easier to digest and absorb the nutrients.
Parched corn isn't actually popped corn. The corn is roasted until the hard shell bursts open and it is about to become popped corn and it is a nice lite brown colour. It has much the same consistency as corn meal, but is much easier to digest and absorb the nutrients.
RovingArcher said:Abbe and Scott, thanks for your replies. That certainly is what I was asking about.
Parched corn isn't actually popped corn. The corn is roasted until the hard shell bursts open and it is about to become popped corn and it is a nice lite brown colour. It has much the same consistency as corn meal, but is much easier to digest and absorb the nutrients.
Hi mate,
maybe you can help me getting a name for the flour. If I want to find a way to order it from somewhere I have to tell them: " I am looking for...(please insert the right name here )...........flour, can I order it from you."
If I dont have the right name I will be stuck. What is the bluish corn called?
thanks
yours
Abbe
Abbe Osram said:
Corn meal is "corn meal." Stocked in every grocery store over here. "Johnny Cake (possibly corrupted from "jouney cake") is a staple here. As to the blue corn - I'll check with a friend Tara Pringle, who is more into this sort of thing than I am.
I lifted this recipe from her Native Tech web site:
pound hard corn until powder like
pour in water
sprinkle cinnamon
put in a small amount of honey
make a type of patty cake
melt butter in a small pan
cook until golden brown (flip sides occasionaly)
let cool and pour honey
PG
Thanks mate for the info. After you got news about the bluish corn please tell me.
thanks
yours
Abbe
thanks
yours
Abbe
I often parch medium oatmeal as a substitute, as I havn't the inclination to grind corn in my hand coffee mill. Although for experiments I have also used wheat (wheat berries) and Barley, barley because of its almost exclusive use as a stable in Nepal and Tibet.
KIMBOKO said:
What kind of grain would be easy enough to digest like the old indian hunter style.
Just putting it into the mouth with some water. I dont believe it would do me any good with our type of flour but what about the Barley thing you are talking about Kimboko.
Thanks
Abbe
I may have confused you. I use Oatmeal which is already ground but not as fine as flour about as fine as coarse ground coffee which I parch in a pan.
But just to try I have parched both wheat and barley and then ground them to meal in a coffee mill. I only grind to the consistency of coarse coffee.
The wheat slightly pops and is delicious with sugar and chocolate. And in both cases the slight roasting gives and acceptable flavour. Note I have only done this as an experiment to find out the taste and have never had to live on these products.
Ground to quite a coarse meal you can put the dry powder in the mouth and take water to wash it down. But I would imagine a finer flour would be more difficult to use in that way.
From a brief look at a nutitional food website there isn't much to choose between them on a calorie or straight protein basis but I havn't investigated the type of protein or the minerals, enzymes or vitamins (some obviously destroyed by the parching process).
But just to try I have parched both wheat and barley and then ground them to meal in a coffee mill. I only grind to the consistency of coarse coffee.
The wheat slightly pops and is delicious with sugar and chocolate. And in both cases the slight roasting gives and acceptable flavour. Note I have only done this as an experiment to find out the taste and have never had to live on these products.
Ground to quite a coarse meal you can put the dry powder in the mouth and take water to wash it down. But I would imagine a finer flour would be more difficult to use in that way.
From a brief look at a nutitional food website there isn't much to choose between them on a calorie or straight protein basis but I havn't investigated the type of protein or the minerals, enzymes or vitamins (some obviously destroyed by the parching process).
