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When it comes to food, I rarely turn down a dare. Whether the food in question is haggis or headcheese, tongue tacos or tortoise soup, I'm usually up for a challenge. Even so, there is one food that I have studiously avoided for my entire life.
Spam.
It's not that I'm opposed to processed meat. I've eaten more than my fair share of scrapple, pate, pon hoss, sausage, blood pudding, and other ground goodies. However, there's something about Spam that always turned me off. Maybe it was the 1950's-style ads on the old-fashioned can, or maybe it's the fact that the meat was just a little too pink. Regardless, I could never bring myself to give it a try.
Recently, however, amid reports of the growing popularity of the canned meat, I felt like the time had come to give it a try. After all, with some of America's top chefs using Spam in their cooking, my detachment started to seem a little provincial. Besides, the ingredients (pork shoulder, ham, water, sugar, salt, sodium nitrite, and potato starch) are a lot more natural than I might have thought, and the price is certainly attractive.
As I got closer to trying the famed meat product, I decided to explore some of its cultural impact. After all, while I don't know anybody who regularly eats the stuff, most grocery stores stock huge piles of it. What's more, Spam cans always seem fresh, undented, and almost pristine, which would suggest that it doesn't spend much time in the store. Clearly, somebody is putting down huge quantities of processed pork.
I was somewhat surprised to discover that, while Spam is popular across the United States, it is almost legendary in Hawaii, where every man, woman, and child consumes, on average, six cans a year. While most experts argue claim that the canned snack gained popularity during World War II, novelist Christopher Moore cites a more entertaining explanation. In Island of the Sequined Love-Nun, he claims that Spam actually is code for "Shaped Protein Approximating Man," and that it was used to wean cannibals off of long pork.
Admittedly, Hawaii was never known for cannibalism, but the same cannot be said for the rest of Polynesia, where Spam enjoys amazing popularity.
Given the cultural impact of Spam in Hawaii, I decided to try Spam Musubi for my first Spam snack. A a popular Hawaiian street food, musubi pairs a marinated, grilled slice of the pink stuff with a slab of rice, wraps the whole bundle in a strip of seaweed and serves it with a sweet dipping sauce. The final effect is somewhat surreal, almost like a piece of Spam sushi; as soon as she saw it, my wife collapsed in a fit of giggles.
I have to admit that my first run-in with Spam was actually pretty good. Contrary to my expectations, the texture wasn't slimy at all; in fact, it had a light, almost whipped consistency that landed somewhere between pate and whipped butter. The flavor was similarly unoffensive: basically, it tasted slightly of ham and largely of salt. It grilled up nicely, with a firm mouthfeel that was surprisingly comforting. Overall, I can see why so many chefs are becoming fascinated with it and why so many consumers are buying it in bulk. While it isn't one of my favorite foods, I might just have to try Michael Fiorello's Hot and Spice Spam Coca, with Roasted Piquillo-Pineapple Escabeche!
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1-08-2009 @1:16PM Kassie said... Spam. Num.
The Minnesota State Fair offers the most amazing Spam Burger. It is crispy and melty and so, so good. The Spam Curds, on the other hand, are only for true Spam lovers.
I like my Spam cubed, pan fried, and served in Ramen.
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1-08-2009 @1:20PM kasey said... What was your dipping sauce made out of? I never had spam musubi with a dipping sauce before but it sounds like it could be tasty. :)
I'm from Hawaii and grew up on spam and spam musubi. My grandpa used to feed us spam and egg sandwiches which were yummy too. Most people who haven't eaten spam before seem to be turned off by the texture and the saltiness. While you can eat spam straight from the can, I like it better if it's fried and they sell low sodium spam which is a little less salty. My boyfriend likes spicy spam which you can either buy or just add a bunch of tabasco to your spam before you fry it.
Oh and not related to food but Christopher Moore rocks! Especially Fluke which takes place in Maui. :D
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1-08-2009 @3:33PM Dr. Mitchell R. White said... SPAM? Somebody's actually discovering this meat only recently? Amazing.
I'm amused by the "long pork" myth. SPAM isn't that old a product, by the way. There are nice histories on the Web; but by the time the processed pork shoulder made its way to Polynesia, cannibalism was decades gone. No, World War II had more to do with its popularity than anything.
That, and it's relative low price.
A thorough Web search shows there are over 20,000 SPAM recipes out there, and nearly that many haiku (SPAM-ku): 19,000 and counting. Name another food that inspires so much poetry? Feel the Love! A favorite:
I talk to my SPAM
Sometimes it even talks back
Doctor gave me pills
--Tom Elliott
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1-08-2009 @3:44PM Scott said... If you're ever in Madison, Wisconsin, call up Burrito Drive, and order the "White Trash Burrito." It's a burrito filled with SPAM, tater tots, Boston baked beans, and Velveeta, served with ketchup for dipping. Cheap eats, they deliver, and it's amusing as hell to eat... and I'll be darned if it isn't pretty tasty, too!
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1-09-2009 @1:23PM bigkingken said... Nothing to do with Spam, but kudos on the Christopher Moore reference. Easily my favorite comedic author!
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1-08-2009 @6:47PM Kevin said... No Reservations did an ep in Hawaii and he went to a little restaurant where they made him several dishes with spam as the main ingredient - I've never tried the stuff, but after watching the ep and Anthony's reaction, I'm going to have to pay this place a visit next time I'm on the island!
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1-08-2009 @9:41PM Bruce Watson said... As always, I love the responses from Slashfood readers! Dr. White, thanks for the Spam-ku; Big Kingken and Kasey, I'm always glad to find a few more Moore junkies. By the way, Kasey, the dipping sauce that I used was the leftover marinade (see the recipe link). Basically, it was a combination of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger. I doubled the amount of garlic and ginger that the recipe called for.
As for Scott and Kassie, thanks for the suggestions. And, Kevin, don't wait for a trip to Hawaii; check out the recipes that I linked to!
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1-10-2009 @12:26AM Sarah said... Spam is either loved or hated ;-) Once it starts to sizzle it actually does taste & smell good. My kid loves it.....
My business is trail cooking (for hikers) this is one I did this fall on a dayhike as a tongue-in-cheek recipe.
http://blog.trailcooking.com/2008/11/28/spam-tastic-lo-mein/
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1-14-2009 @6:11AM SaraFist said... Try making your marinade with mirin and sans garlic and ginger sometime. It's worth it to try the standard.
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1-16-2009 @11:48AM Karen said... Iloved your blog, it gave me a much needed laugh. I feel excatly the same way about spam. You have nearly inspired me to at least buy it and give it another look.I may even try that recipe
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1-16-2009 @10:33AM Bruce Watson said... Karen-
Thanks for the head's up! I'd definitely say that you should give it a shot, but you might try going with Spam Lite; it has a lot less sodium and fat.
Let me know how it goes!
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