Tea Ploss is a relatively new invention that came with trading with Europeans ... it was something done out of necessity and something you built a taste for over time

Pemmican is thousands of years old ... it's absolutely delicious when prepared properly. And there are an endless variety of it depending on the region, dialect, environment and animal used ... my old family way up in Hudson Bay used smoked arctic char mixed with berries. The mix of salty smoked fish with a bit of sugary berries is unbelievable. No one makes it any more but as a kid I remember having it and it was like candy. When I think about it, it was like modern protein energy bars .... its filling, tastes sugary but with subtle tastes.

I have relatives and friends in far northern Canada in Inuit territory ... they enjoy raw fish and whale oil stuff and blubber ... those are definitely things you have to build a tolerance for.

This comment thread is just setting off memories for me like crazy today

My parents were born in the 30s in the bush way up in northern Ontario. They remember living through famines in the late 40s and early 50s. Yes in modern Canada, there are people who still remember surviving famines in the wilderness .. some of those survivors are still alive today. My late father said he remembers coming across families in the wilderness that boiled their moccasins to make a kind of soup to try to eat something. Women were so malnourished, they weren't able to produce breast milk, so they resorted to feeding babies fish broth, when they could get some.

So you are right ... when times are desperate ... shoe leather is actually delicious.

I think its a thing in Finland.