My wife can take away my Velveeta, but she can’t take away my Spam!
I’ve been on the strangest Spam kick lately and I have no idea why. I got some Lite Spam a few weeks back and ever since then I have not been able to stop eating the stuff. In some ways it really is the perfect food. It doesn’t taste particularly good, so there’s no temptation to just keep on eating it. I like foods that are self-limiting. Eat too much of the sugar free candy and you will regret it. Sharp cheddar is better than mild if for no other reason than that the taste buds tire of (or get annoyed by) it sooner. And so it is with Spam. I can eat turkey pepperoni all day, but not so much for the spam.
Yet… yet… I crave it. I crave it more than I enjoy eating it. It really makes me wonder if they have some sort of addictive substance in there. Something to make your taste buds say “Hey, remember that? You didn’t think it was all that good at the time, but I just way you to know that it was, in fact, awesome. Get more now, please. Now. NOW!”
My doctorly wife of course does not approve. Partially she’s just confused about it. Why would anyone eat it voluntarily. She’s started buying Deli ham as a substitute. It works somewhat. Unless I’m having an all-powerful craving I’ll go for the ham. Partially cause my wife wants to, but partially because I know that the ham will go bad in relatively short order while the Spam will kick molds in the ass for a considerably longer time frame.
According to the New York Times, Spam has been making a comeback in a big way because of the economic downturn.
Spam, a gelatinous 12-ounce rectangle of spiced ham and pork, may be among the world’s most maligned foods, dismissed as inedible by food elites and skewered by comedians who have offered smart-alecky theories on its name (one G-rated example: Something Posing As Meat).
But these days, consumers are rediscovering relatively cheap foods, Spam among them. A 12-ounce can of Spam, marketed as “Crazy Tasty,” costs about $2.40. “People are realizing it’s not that bad a product,” said Dan Johnson, 55, who operates a 70-foot-high Spam oven.
Hormel declined to cooperate with this article, but several of its workers were interviewed here recently with the help of their union, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 9. Slumped in chairs at the union hall after making 149,950 cans of Spam on the day shift, several workers said they been through boom times before — but nothing like this.
Spam “seems to do well when hard times hit,” said Dan Bartel, business agent for the union local. “We’ll probably see Spam lines instead of soup lines.”
I had been wondering why Spam prices have been going progressively up over the past few weeks. Looks like we might be facing a Spam shortage. Maybe that’s what it’ll take to shake me loose of my current addiction.
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11 Responses to Spam, Glorious Spam
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I’ve had spam once, and that was enough for me to not want to have it again.
In Hawaii, it’s the 6th major food group. People eat it with eggs/rice for breakfast all the time. I used to make fried rice with it, but switched to bacon instead.
I’ve had spam once, and that was enough for me to not want to have it again.
Same here. I’m glad I tried it, because otherwise I’d never know what I was missing, but once was enough.
Wonderful Spam! Glorious Spam!
As a child of the prole classes, Spam is something that’s not exactly the best tasting thing in the world, but once in a while, it can be rather tasty, especially if served in thin slices. We used it as substitute for sausages, cold cuts, and when my mom was just unwilling to go thru the entire process of cleaning and cooking beef.
I’ve never had it. About a year ago I bought a can just to try it, but I never did get around to cracking it open. Maybe I’ll give it a try tomorrow.
David:
Beef has to be cleaned? I mean, I know that it has to be done at some point, but I assume your parents weren’t actually processing whole steers.
By the way, why does your wife find ham less objectionable than Spam? Does it have less salt or something?
Beef has to be cleaned? I mean, I know that it has to be done at some point, but I assume your parents weren’t actually processing whole steers.
We’re Caribbean, so my mother and other women like her cling to the idea that one must “wash” the meat (or poultry or fish) in a citrus bath to remove foul odours and bacteria and to improve flavour.
In Hawaii, it’s the 6th major food group. People eat it with eggs/rice for breakfast all the time. I used to make fried rice with it, but switched to bacon instead.
Wikipedia’s Spam page actually goes into Hawaii’s love for the food.
Interestingly enough, you replace Spam with bacon while I’ve gone the other direction. Spam makes a decent bacon substitute in breakfast burritos.
I’ve never had it. About a year ago I bought a can just to try it, but I never did get around to cracking it open. Maybe I’ll give it a try tomorrow.
Yet another great thing about Spam: You can have it in your pantry for a year and then eat it.
That’s part of my wife’s primary objection, too. I think it’s mostly about the chemicals that they put in there to keep it evergreen. Along those lines, she detests the smell of the stuff and I suspect is skeptical about a meat that’s giving off that kind of odor when being cooked.
in a citrus bath to remove foul odours and bacteria and to improve flavour.
When Clancy and I were getting married, the caterer had the strange inclination to mix meat with fruit, fruity sauce, or some sort of sweet sauce. We negotiated that out of it, but we’ve never understood how fruitiness and meat were supposed to interact in any way beneficial to the taste buds.