Spam Four-Way: Does The Iconic Canned Meat Hold Up?

Salon:

Is there a food more widely mocked than Spam? Its name was long rumored to stand for Stuff Posing as Meat. It's synonymous with Internet junk. (No, kids, they didn't name the canned pig after banking offers from dispossessed Nigerian millionaires. It was the other way around.) And well before there were ironic visits to the Spam Museum, comedy crossed into Spamland with Monty Python's famous Viking Spam sketch. But for all the mockery, I'd always assumed that we only kid because we love. I mean, everyone grew up on Spam, right?

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Comments

[tootsie1]

02:38 AM on 04/19/2011

I live in Hawaii and it is a absolute favorite over here...Spam, rice and eggs...great! Spam musubi... excellent at the beach...you can even get spam rubber slippers so when you walk in the sand it prints....SPAM...............but we would never bake the whole can with pineapple on top...yuk...that was one of the original recipes ideas.....

[judiNJ]

04:07 PM on 04/12/2011

I still LOVE Spam. Back in the 70s when I was living on a very anemic budget, I would almost LIVE on it. Slap a couple of slices into the frying pan and brown it on both sides, then onto buttered toast. I still have to have my Spam "fix" every few weeks. Yummmmmmy!

[imcwevoh]

05:18 PM on 04/11/2011

My family is from Puerto Rico, and I think Spam is eaten in PR a lot too, maybe for similar reasons to Hawaii (military? US encroachment?). I do know they love nasty stuff like Hormel canned corned beef and vienna sausages too. I once went camping with friends who made delicious croquettes with something called "jamon pica'o" with just translates to "chopped ham." I later found out that I had eaten "potted meat" which, I believe, aspires to be Spam.

[cyoohoos]

07:04 PM on 04/11/2011

Potted meat will never be Spam. Potted meat isn't even capable of being sliced. My mom loved it with crackers straight from the can.

[judiNJ]

04:09 PM on 04/12/2011

Brand named: Deviled Ham..... In little cans wrapped in white paper with red letters... OMG, I must have SUCH low brow taste...

[deweydecimal]

07:11 PM on 04/11/2011

Potted meat and terrines are classic and are delicious made from scratch.

[Super Nic]

11:46 AM on 04/11/2011

I've never tried Spam before in my life. I'm semi-curious but I think I'll keep my Spam purity ring on for now.

[Casa-Giardino]

10:12 AM on 04/11/2011

I'd rather eat bread anyday then touch "that stuff".

[rikster]

08:44 AM on 04/11/2011

thousand of years from now..an alien archeologist will find a can of SPAM..open it and the contents will still be edible. it will ponder what it is and come to the conclusion that is was used in some sort of religious rite....

[fredgladys]

01:17 AM on 04/22/2011

Don't know about that, Spam isn't edible now so it wouldn't be that good in the future.

[ThinkCreeps]

05:21 AM on 04/11/2011

If you keep it in the can, it can hold up wobbly tables just fine.

You do have to be careful. In the unlikely case that it bursts or leaks, you really wouldn't want to risk it getting into anyone's mouth.

[NadineColbert]

04:05 AM on 04/11/2011

My family were on a very tight budget in my childhood. My mother would cook spam once or twice a month. She cubed it and sauted it with onions, garlic, ginger , chilli, turmuric and Garam masala, adding frozen peas.
It tased good at the time! I guess we must have been pretty hungry!

[IsabelRingin]

12:28 AM on 04/11/2011

It occurred to me after reading the article....

Francis Lam boiled Spam.

Gross. But kinda cute.

[FaunaAndFlora]

11:47 PM on 04/10/2011

Sorry. I couldn't resist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

[dimplasm]

10:54 PM on 04/10/2011

"You watch, mesmerized...
It glistens seductively
Philanderous SPAM!"

For more Spam-ku's,

http://mit.edu/jync/www/spam/19601-19700.html

[FredDerf]

10:44 PM on 04/10/2011

:) Remembering back to my teen years when I went fishing with some buddies. We opened a can of Spam for breakfast waiting for the boat. I put the open can under the front seat of my car to keep it out of the sun and promptly forgot about it. MANY months latter I found the can. The Spam had shrunk somewhat but there was not a speck of mold or rot on it. Smelled fine, well like Spam anyway, and was still firm but not hard to the touch. But that was as far as I got with it as I was not about to take a bite.

[fredgladys]

10:13 PM on 04/10/2011

The only thing going for Spam is the Monty Python song.

[NuMexMama]

09:33 PM on 04/10/2011

New Mexico is the state right behind Hawaii in the sale of Spam. It is mainly because of the huge Navajo Nation. It is vast and isolated. Hogans are scattered and lack electricity (refrigeration). I see Dine people in Costco buying Spam by the caseloads as well as cases of bottled water.

Each year the State Fair has a Spam Recipe contest! Some very creative dishes are entered. So there is a practical reason for Spam and also some fun attached.

[xstevejx]

08:38 PM on 04/10/2011

I only had Spam once in a pasta dish someone else made and it was actually pretty good, but I never bought any myself.