Back in the '90s, I was working with a Russian guy when I happened to mention Spam one day. He told me his dad, who was a “journalist”* assigned to Washington, DC, loved the stuff. I said he probably developed a taste for Spam during WWII, when tons of it were shipped to the USSR under Lend-Lease. There are probably still warehouses in Murmansk that are full of Spam.
The only meaning Spam has for Russians nowadays is the junk you get on a computer. When I was teaching English, I had to bring a can to class to show my students where the word came from.
Update and full disclosure: I kept seeing that leftover SPAM in the fridge, but when push came to shove, I just couldn’t face it again. On a plate. As food.
I reverentially dumped it in the garbage while whispering prayers of gratitude for the part it played in sustaining our Fighting Troops (my father was one of them), not to mention nourishing (sort of) the people who still love it today.
Spam is soft enough that I wonder if you could simulate grinding it by chopping it up into small pieces and mashing it to get something akin to the “Span salad” consistency.
I also wonder if the Spam spread would work in that recipe. And if those who don’t like Miracle Whip might want to use no-fat Mayo, which tastes somewhat like Miracle Whip, but less sweet and cloying.
The mighta-beens and never-weres can drive a man insane. I think I’ll stay out in the void, 'cause Benson’s not the same.
I opened a tin of “ham flakes” the other day to make some ham salad for a sandwich, and guess what? They tasted exactly like Spam!. Same texture and everything!
