Mr Curl and I recently went to Hawai’i, where I saw for the first time on their menus spam, egg and rice breakfasts. Does anyone know if that is available any place in the US other than Hawai’i?
Some places around Southern California (“L & L”, and probably a few different ones) style themselves as “Hawaiian Barbeque”. They have it. Oddly enough, I haven’t ever had any, but I suspect it’s pretty much like regular lunch meat, except to the true gastronomes.
L & L?
Yeah, there’s a few of those, and some other “Hawaiian Barbecue” chains around the Bay Area too:
http://www.hawaiianbarbecue.com/live/locations/store-locator
I don’t think I’ve ever eaten in one. Spam, of course, is highly thought of in Hawaii. Doesn’t surprise me they’d have it for breakfast. Without a tablefull of Vikings singing about it of course …
Hawaii’s Love Affair with SPAM
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
*”It’s no secret that Hawaii loves SPAM.
We have the largest consumption per capita of SPAM. …”*
I assume spam is popular in places like Hawaii because it probably has a long shelf life, and living on an island makes the availability of some foods limited and/or expensive.
I think the OP was trying to ask if McDonalds served those spam-based menu items in any of their stores other than in Hawai’i.
If so, it would be in other places where SPAM is popular, such as Korea.
I listen to Chuck and Josh’s podcast… They are from HowStuffWorks.Com and they did a podcast a few months ago about Spam and how Hawaiians and other Asians like it.
Apparently during WWII, Spam was ideal for soliders and after the war ended the people in Japan, Hawaii and other places in Asia and the Pacific got a taste for it.
I love Spam, I think it gets a bad rap.
No, that’s a regional dish only for McDonalds.
However, any Hawaiian-food place should offer a variety of delicious Spam dishes.
YUM!!!
I have a couple of faint memories of my mother preparing meals that featured Spam rather than regular meat during WW2 days. I’m often tempted to buy a can of Spam just to give it a try but I haven’t done so yet. Would it be worth doing? How likely am I to actually like the stuff?
SPAM is pork with salt and sugar. A little salty, but there’s nothing not to like. And they have reduced-salt versions.
Do they have anything without Spam in it?
I think Turkey SPAM doesn’t have SPAM in it.
It tastes like salty ham. When I have it, it’s sliced and fried in a skillet and eaten with pancakes and an egg with some syrup.
One theory goes that Spam is popular in the south Pacific because the inhabitants were, generations ago, cannibals. And the Spam has a taste vaguely reminiscent of human flesh. I believe Paul Theroux wrote about it.
Of course, that’s probably not even close to the truth, but it makes a great story.
ETA: on further reflection, I think I read this in a SD column years ago!
Ah, bummer. Mr Curl was regretting not trying it while we were there, and while I did like Hawai’i, I don’t think I’m up for going back just to see how McD’s does spam… 
It is defiantly true that spam featured heavily in feeding US troops during World War II. My dad was on a troop ship to Europe for several weeks. The bad news: No meat except Spam. The good news: Plenty of Spam! Oh I forgot, the flour in the ships stores was infested with weevils, so they did get some variety meat served in the bread.
My mom was pretty much forbidden from ever serving it to my dad. She did buy it and serve it to me at lunch in the summer when dad was at work. Also, dad DID keep a couple cans of it in the camper for emergency use, but we never had an emergency that required actually opening the cans.
One of the reasons pork is not kosher is that it can be infected with parasites and has to be cooked and eaten relatively quickly or it will go bad.
But this isn’t that culture.
Look, you can go out and hunt down a pig and have a big pork feast right now, because that meat ain’t going to keep in tropical heat.
Or… you can reach over for that can of spam that will keep for quite a long time.
Spiced pork in small quantities that will keep for a long time. What isn’t to like when pork is part of your diet and otherwise has those kinds of availability and lack of shelf life issues?
Just to add that, when we were in Hawai’i last year, we wound up stopping at a Denny’s for breakfast one morning. They had a special Spam menu there, as well.