Thursday, June 27, 2013

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam

Now living in the home state of the famous canned meat (and just an hour or two away from Austin, Minnesota the hometown of its father company of Hormel), it was only a matter of time before I got around to trying some Spam.  Well truth be told, I’ve actually bought and ate it twice now.  Most recently I had it last night, but I made it the first time awhile back (taking the pictures you’ll see below).

Before I keep going any further, I should probably address the few people reading this that are already getting grossed out by just the mere mention of Spam.  There’s an aversion to tinned meat these days (which I definitely understand) and also there’s the labeling of Spam as “mystery meat” (I totally understand that too).  I can’t argue around the weirdness of canned meat (it’s really just salted to death and then pressure canned), but I can address the “mystery meat” label.  In reading the ingredients on the can, it’s a much shorter and benign list of stuff than in many other meats but other food items as well.  Have you ever had a hot dog?  How about bologna?  Heck, how about a can of chicken noodle soup?  Yep, you’ve eaten something with twice as many strange sounding ingredients as Spam.  It’s really not that bad people.

Now that I’ve touched on that topic, let’s move on to how I prepared my Spam.  First though, this point of reference may be helpful – 


While it wasn’t exactly a dish at the diner in Monty Pyton’s sketch*, I was at least inspired to make “Spam, Spam, Spam, Baked Beans, Eggs, and Spam.”  Of course I had a side of toast too (I mean really, any British breakfast comes with a side of toast…)**  Making 1/4 inch slices off the loaf of Spam, I fried them in a pan on medium-high heat, essentially making a nice crust on each side.  When those were finished, I quickly made some scrambled eggs, heated the baked beans*** in the microwave, and made some toast.  Putting it altogether makes quite a nice British fry-up breakfast.  

Yes, yes.  You’re probably asking “But how did the Spam taste?”  To be honest – wonderful.  I haven’t had Spam any other way yet, but frying it up has to be the best preparation for it.  It browns up perfectly, getting a nice light crust on the outside (probably due to the fatty aspic) while the inside almost borders on creamy (probably due to the really fine chop during processing).  I can’t lie – as far as a breakfast meat, fried Spam is right up there with bacon for me.  Depending on the bacon, it might actually beat it.  

 It’s super salted canned meat.  Of course I chose the low sodium variety – and I would too if I were you.


Mmm, processed ham chunk.  Having seen loaves of processed ham at deli counters growing up, this just seems normal to me.  My wife though, not being a huge meat lover, is grossed out by this.  I can’t win with the “it’s no worse than a hot dog” argument either as she eats veggie dogs.


The finished product.  Yeah… that was a lot of food and a lot of Spam the first time.  I only did three slices the second time…

*Spam of course was so ubiquitous in rations during WWII that people got quite tired of it. It wasn’t just in the rations of American GIs but also in American provided rations for peoples in the war touched areas of the Pacific and in England as well.  While some Pacific peoples embraced it (like those in Hawaii), the English grew quite tired of it showing up everywhere – thus the inspiration for Monty Python’s sketch.  The sketch – and the notion of being inundated with an unwanted item – is where the electronic usage of the word Spam originates.  

**Seriously, go anywhere in the UK (and also Ireland) and you ALWAYS get toast for breakfast.  No matter what you’re having, you’ll be brought halved toast served in a little stand.

***To be authentically British, you should have Heinz baked beans or at least some other brand of baked beans that are canned in a tomato sauce.  I have a strong aversion to the “canned tomato soup” taste, so I opt for the more traditional American Boston baked bean style with molasses and pork bits.