Rubaboo

Rubaboo is a common stew or porridge consumed by coureurs des bois and voyageurs (French fur traders) and Métis people¹ of North America. This dish is traditionally made of peas and/or corn, with grease (bear or pork) and a thickening agent (bread or flour) that makes up the base of the stew.² Pemmican³ and maple sugar were also commonly added to the mixture.

Rubaboo that is made by the Plains Métis is often made with pemmican, rabbit, prairie chicken or sage hen and a wide variety of wild vegetables such as wild parsnip (lii naavoo) onion, turnip, and asparagus that can all be added to the food with preference.⁴ The thickened mixture was later re-served as “rowschow” (re-chaud).⁵ Other sources describe it as consisting primarily of boiled pemmican, with thickening agents added when available.³⁶

The etymology of the word is a blend of the French word roux (a thickener used in gravies and sauces) with the word for soup ("aboo") from an Algonquian language,⁷ such as Anishnaabe ᓇᐴ naboo.⁸ Although pemmican can be added to the stew, Rubaboo and pemmican remain separate dishes, but are culturally linked closely to each other in Metis history.⁹