Spam, anyone? ("Food," NOT junk mail)

[Guest ncm2169]

Reading about Obama's current Hawaiian vacation, I learned that he snacked on some Spam Musubi, apparently a Hawaiian delicacy. I didn't know that the Minnesota-produced ultimate utilitarian food had found its way to The Islands, and as a delicacy, at that.

 

Personally, I think it's disgusting, but I suppose it's a matter of taste and necessity.

 

Just curious - has anyone here had any experiences or encounters with Spam? }(

[+ deej]

You're kidding, right?

 

When I was a working musician in my 20's, a slice of spam could turn macaroni, butter and salt into PASTA! Add a can of green beans and you've got CASSEROLE.

 

All things have their place.

[+ Hoover42]

I used to eat fried spam years ago when I had NO money. A local church near my college would occasionally provide canned goods including SPAM and Vienna sausages.

 

Yum!

 

...Hoover

[KMEM]

Hawaii is the number one state in consumption of Spam, by far. I believe this started during WW II when it was widely available and other meat was not. Hawaiians have taken it to heart as part of their culinary existence and experience.

 

Personally I grew up eating it periodically and still have it in the pantry for random use, lower fat and lower sodium versions, to be sure.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[+ Charlie]

I haven't eaten it since I was a child, but I rather liked it then and didn't understand why people made jokes about it.

[+ deej]

BTW, ncm, here's a special holiday recipe for you:

 

http://foodproof.com/photos/full/bacon-cheese-roll-1290

 

Try THAT on New Year's Day. ;-)

[JT Brooklyn]

Now that's a Man of the People! He's Vacationing in a 10 Million Dollar House and Dining on SPAM!

 

That and taking the Oath of Office using Lincolns Bible, whioh would be the First Time it has been used ever.. got him MY Vote! ;-)

 

I had SPAM Years Ago Tastey..BUT NOW I would definitely be Put Off by the ACTUAL Contents! LOL

[Guest Fisher]

SPAM is also quite popular in Japan & Korea,

In large part due to the stationing of US Military

Forces after WWII and the Korean War and the lack

of other meats. The large Japanese & Korean population

of Hawaii add to its popularity in Hawaii. When I lived

in Hawaii years ago, SPAM sushi was popular.

 

Aloha,

Fisher

[seeker630]

>Personally, I think it's disgusting, but I suppose it's a

>matter of taste and necessity.

>

>Just curious - has anyone here had any experiences or

>encounters with Spam? }(

 

Spam isn't any grosser than sausages and pates or hot dogs, it's more middle-class cousins. A lot of American seem pretty squeamish about a lot of foods but there's hardly anything that isn't eaten by someone somewhere.

 

I keep a couple of cans in my pantry for the occassional extended power outages caused by ice storms or hurricanes.

[Epigonos]

Spam is a HUGE favorite in Hong Kong "Coffee Shops". China is actually the world’s largest consumer of Spam. Don't knock it guys it is probably the only thing other than technology that we sell in quantity to China. Several of these rather bizarre restaurants have been opened in the San Gabriel Valley just east of downtown Los Angeles. They are usually open all night and prepare some extremely strange renditions of American Coffee Shop fare.

[+ deej]

SPAM came to fame in the 50's when every "I Love Lucy" housewife thought she could feed her family with canned foods.

 

(Well, she could. I grew up that way.)

 

It is still found in diners (perhaps what you're calling coffee shops?) particularly coupled with eggs for breakfast. Heck, I still order it in a place not known to me because at least the meat will be a known entity.

 

But let's face it, SPAM's primary claim to fame (and market reach) is that it can survive where refrigeration might not be available so fresh meat could be iffy. It survives because it's canned.

 

Having said that, I'm reminded I don't have any in the pantry just now. I need to pick some up because sometimes, for those of us of a certain age, it's the perfect comfort food. It brings up memories of home.

 

It's kinda like scrapple. You either know what it is and what it's for, or you bunch up your panties and squeal "eeeeeeuuuuw".

[+ Charlie]

Scrapple! The name conjures up wonderful breakfast memories. I never see it in the supermarkets here in California.

[Guest ncm2169]

Under the eeeeeuuuuuuwwww category, herewith, from Wikipedia:

 

< Scrapple is a savory mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour. The mush is formed into a loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then fried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, not used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a regional food of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the rest of Maryland.

 

Scrapple is typically made of hog offal, such as the head, heart, liver, and other scraps, which are boiled with any bones attached (often the entire head), to make a broth. Once cooked, bones and fat are discarded, the meat is reserved, and (dry) cornmeal is boiled in the broth to make a mush. The meat, finely minced, is returned, and seasonings, typically sage, thyme, savory, and others are added. The mush is cast into loaves and allowed to cool thoroughly until gelled. The proportions and seasoning are very much a matter of the region and the cook's taste.

 

Commercial scrapple often contains these traditional ingredients, with a distinctive flavor to each brand. A few manufacturers have introduced beef and turkey varieties and color the loaf to retain the traditional coloration derived from the original pork liver base.

 

Vegetarian scrapple, made from soy protein or wheat gluten, is offered in some places. It is seasoned to be much sweeter than typical meat scrapple.

 

Scrapple is typically cut into quarter-inch to three-quarter-inch slices, and pan-fried until browned to form a crust. It is sometimes first coated with flour. It may be fried in butter or oil and is sometimes deep-fried.

 

In composition, preparation, and taste, scrapple is similar to white pudding popular in Ireland, Scotland and parts of England and the spicier Hog's pudding of the West Country.

 

Scrapple is usually eaten as a breakfast food, and can be served plain or with apple butter, ketchup, pancake syrup, or even mustard and accompanied by eggs.[original research?] In some regions, such as New England, scrapple is mixed with scrambled eggs and served with toast.[citation needed] In the Philadelphia area, scrapple is sometimes fried and then mashed with fried eggs, horseradish and ketchup. >

 

No thanks. I'll stick to chicken liver pate. (The Silver Palate cookbook has a marvelous recipe.) }(

[+ deej]

It's just proof of the old pig farmer's motto: "use everything but the squeal". I mentioned scrapple because I knew I'd get exactly two kinds of responses. Got 'em.

 

You probably wouldn't enjoy a tour of a sausage (or hot dog) factory, either. That "all beef" label only means that everything came from a cow. I'll guarantee they're not using any cuts you'd recognize in the meat counter. ;-)

[Lookin]

I loved scrapple as a kid, until my high school English teacher told us what was in it. "Snouts!", she said, "and ears and lips!" I didn't eat it after that. Last year, I got a hankering, and found several recipes on line that use only a nice pork loin, with corn meal and seasonings, of course. Haven't made it yet, and may find out that snouts are what make it so yummy. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/tiere/animal-smiley-072.gif

[Guest ncm2169]

Guess again. I met a butcher 25 years ago who informed me, as he said, "Honestly," that hot dogs have a high content of cow's assholes.

 

A competent FDA might allay my fears; the current FDA scares the shit out of me (and maybe the cow, too). }(

[traveler1954]

Spam fit right in with the Atkins Diet. It was great fried, along with two eggs over easy. The porky and rich tasting slab gave great satisfaction. I still took my 40 mg Lipitor to be on the safe side, despite the science that said with the very low carb diet, Spam would not affect your blood cholesterol levels.

DP, NYC

[Guest zipperzone]

>No thanks. I'll stick to chicken liver pate. (The Silver

>Palate cookbook has a marvelous recipe.) }(

 

Everything in The Silver Palate is marvelous, just so long as you are not counting the calories.

[+ Charlie]

I used to fry scrapple and eat it with eggs for breakfast. Delicious!

[KMEM]

How about brains scrambled with eggs for breakfast? Is that common or known any where else besides the rural South? Delicious IF you don't think about what you are eating but that might be true of almost any thing that once was alive. Now they are saying plants have feelings. What are we going to eat?

 

There are all sorts of possible comments possible about the above post to include, I have always enjoyed eating my favorite escort and he once was alive. Now he just lays there. Jism might support life but is not nutritionally complete.

 

Best regards and Happy New Year,

KMEM