The SPAM thread

[Proudest_Monkey]

I prefer WHAM! From one of my favorite old-timey Cary Grant movies. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040613/

“If you ain’t eatin’ WHAM, you ain’t eatin’ ham!”

I know it’s not The Princess Bride, but surely there must be another Doper out there who equates Spam with WHAM.

[Geek_Mecha]

@Johnny_L.A

Sounds like you need a new boyfriend. One that trusts your cooking.

My plan is to take him to a luau and surround him with poi, lomi salmon, and laulau. Spam will seem safe and familiar by comparison.

[Johnny_L.A]

@Proudest_Monkey

surely there must be another Doper out there who equates Spam with WHAM.

SPAM me up before you go, go
And make me some loco moco…

[Hypno-Toad]

@Thudlow_Boink

I’ll have your spam. I love it. I’m having spam spam spam spam spam spam spam beaked beans spam spam spam and spam!

Every SPAM is sacred…

[Colophon]

What’s with all the capitals? Spam ain’t an acronym, Y’ALL.

[Larry_Mudd]

@Colophon

What’s with all the capitals? Spam ain’t an acronym, Y’ALL.

Tell that to Hormel.

SPAM[sup]tm[/sup] (like REALTOR[sup]tm[/sup] and other words for repulsive, gelatinous lumps of meat) is properly set down in ALL CAPS.

[ministryman]

@PlainJain

I just listened to an interesting clip on NPR about a guy who bought SPAM for his wife because it was cheaper than bacon. She was not amused but tried it. The only good thing she could say about it was that it was salty.

It got me thinking that I’ve never eaten or tasted it but there must be a buttload of people who do because I always see it at the store, right? My dad ate it but I think it was his frugality - but maybe he liked it.

So tell me about SPAM:
Are there any regular SPAM eaters here? Do you eat it for the taste or price?
How do you eat it? Does it come ‘cooked’, i.e. ready to eat?
Has anyone tried it but hated it?
Post your SPAM stories.

I might pick up some and try it. BTW, what is SPAM?

50-something spam eater here.

I eat it for for the taste and the memories.
Thinly sliced, then “fried” (pan seared in its own juices for you foodies).
SPAM is pork. Pork shoulder, and Pork parts. Leave it at that and you will have a good SPAM experience.

BTW: leave the lite versions in the store. same for the turkey spam. Regular SPAM is salty as hell, so don’t eat a lot in one sitting…hehe!

[TWDuke]

@Larry_Mudd

Tell that to Hormel.

SPAM[sup]tm[/sup] (like REALTOR[sup]tm[/sup] and other words for repulsive, gelatinous lumps of meat) is properly set down in ALL CAPS.

Would you like some KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner CHEDDAR EXPLOSION to go with your SPAM?

[HazelNutCoffee]

I like spam in fried rice, Korean stew, or thinly sliced, fried, and with white rice. In any other form, no.

Koreans love spam. On holidays they sell spam gift sets, which is basically just big fancy boxes full of spam. Weird.

[Lynn_Bodoni]

@Larry_Mudd

Tell that to Hormel.

SPAM[sup]tm[/sup] (like REALTOR[sup]tm[/sup] and other words for repulsive, gelatinous lumps of meat) is properly set down in ALL CAPS.

And just what do you have to say about The BEATLES? Hmmm?

[PlainJain]

Today I ates me some SPAM! Woohoo…

First thanks to Johnny L.A. for providing the link to the places in my area that might have the SPAM spam musubi. Turns out there’s a place right down the street that has it after all. So I wander in today and ask about it. Yeah, they had it and judging by the wall of SPAM cans they must sell a boatload of it. It was good (I’d order it again - and probably will) but not really nectar of the gods good. Still it was a good intro. The SPAM itself was much better than I thought it would be.

[Johnny_L.A]

@PlainJain

It was good (I’d order it again - and probably will) but not really nectar of the gods good. Still it was a good intro.

I’ve never been to Hawaii (except maybe one time when I was three), but I understand that SPAM musubi is Hawaiian ‘comfort food’. It’s a snack thing. So it’s not really supposed to be ‘nectar of the gods’, but a tasty everyday treat. Like Wienerschnitzel chili-cheese dogs or JITB tacos. Sometimes ya just gotta have 'em. So enjoy them for what they are!

I’m glad you liked them. Try the SPAM-salad sandwiches.

[capybara]

I think we’ve had a spam musubi thread, but my two cents: straight from the skillet to cool down in teriyaki sauce, and then in stack a bit of ume paste for a nice spicy kick.

[In_Winnipeg]

Until Free Trade, we didn’t have SPAM in Canada.

We did, however, have KLIK (Maple Leaf Foods: We're For Real) and KAM (Maple Leaf Foods: We're For Real), which were pretty much the same thing.

My mother used to make us KLIK sandwiches when we were kids (sliced KLIK on white bread with either mustard or mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato), and it could be either straight out of the can or fried.

However, she also cooked it this way (and for my money, it’s one of the best ways to cook it):

1. Place meat in the middle of a pie plate. Take a large knife and, from corner to corner, cut into the meat to a depth of approximately 1/4 inch only. Do the same thing from the other corners so that there is a large X on the face of it when you’re done. Now, do one more cut in each quarter of the meat, running parallel to these first two cuts halfway between the center of the X and the corner. Basically, what you should have is a diamond shape more or less “over” the X.

2 Wherever there are intersections in these lines, stick in a clove.

3. Place a pineapple ring or two on top of the cloved meat, and secure them down with toothpicks.

4. Spoon over this a little brown sugar.

5. Place in the middle oven rack at 350F for approximately 20 minutes; dump a couple of spoons of pineapple juice over it halfway through the cooking time.

6. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes, then slice in six pieces.

7. Enjoy.

I still make this from time to time. Usually as a side dish, I’ll have some seasoned green beans and some pasta with a sauce, like a Lipton-Knorr creation.

[Inner_Stickler]

@Hypno-Toad

An old roommate of mine was from the home town of Spam in Minnesota. He said every year they had “Spam Days” wherein one could find spam being used for any and all purposes on this planet.

Ah, yes. I remember spending a lot of time at the annual SPAM Jam. When I was a teenager, I even worked at some of the game booths for a while. The most popular game was trying to climb to the top of a blow up hill to retrieve a can of spam while sudsy water falls down on you. Unfortunately the SPAM Jam was cancelled a few years ago. The SPAM Museum does some stuff every year but it’s not the same at all.

@Johnny_L.A

Waffles, eh? I wonder how fried SPAM would taste with maple syrup?

Delicious.

@BlackKnight

I have been to the SPAM Museum, however. There, I beat my friend at SPAM-related trivia. Good times, good times.

I’ve been there three times. Believe me, it very quickly pales.

@Markxxx

(Spam was made by Hormel, so of course Gracie mispronounces Hor-mel to rhyme with formal)

Maybe, maybe not. The family name is pronounced Hormul. But when they started selling it across the country a lot of people pronounced it hor-MEL so the company changed their name to match what a lot of people called it. But almost every single elderly person I know in Austin (The birthplace of SPAM as well as me) calls it hormul.

[Larry_Mudd]

@In_Winnipeg

Until Free Trade, we didn’t have SPAM in Canada.

I recall my mother stocking the pantry with both SPAM and its poor cousin SPORK back in the mid-seventies. Is my memory playing tricks on me?

[PlainJain]

@Johnny L.A.

I’m glad you liked them. Try the SPAM-salad sandwiches.

I think I’ll take a shot at making a grilled cheese and SPAM sammy.

[Johnny_L.A]

That might be less of an adventure. But when you do make the SPAM salad, use Miracle Whip and eat it on Wonder bread.

Personally, grilled SPAM and cheese is a little much for me. For cheese, I like SPAM’n’mac’n’cheese.

[PlainJain]

I think we might have a geo-lurker in our midst. Or maybe just a co-inkydink, but this is where I got my SPAM Musubi.

Tiki Trail.

[In_Winnipeg]

@Larry_Mudd

I recall my mother stocking the pantry with both SPAM and its poor cousin SPORK back in the mid-seventies. Is my memory playing tricks on me?

Maybe mine is, but for the life of me, I don’t recall seeing it in any supermarket until the late 80s. I do remember KLIK and KAM and SPORK and PREM, but no SPAM.