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Spam...the edible kind

Patrickt

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When I was a kid we sometimes had Spam sandwiches and it was popular when cooking in the woods. Fried in a skillet and it was pretty tasty. I learned that they loved it in Hawaii but most people seemed to be snooty about Spam.

Then I met my dearest friend ever. She was a Brit and spent the Blitz in London. We were in the grocery one day and I said jokingly, "Want some Spam?" I was shocked when she grabbed a couple of cans.

"Oh, Pat, you can't understand what it was like when Spam started to arrive in England in the war. We didn't have meat and Spam was heavenly."

Spam is hated and does have an interesting history.
"[FONT=&quot]It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff was consumed by Russian forces during the war as well. “Without Spam, we wouldn’t have been able to feed our army,” Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev later said."
[/FONT]http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/09/28/6-things-never-knew-about-spam/
 
When I was a kid we sometimes had Spam sandwiches and it was popular when cooking in the woods. Fried in a skillet and it was pretty tasty. I learned that they loved it in Hawaii but most people seemed to be snooty about Spam.

Then I met my dearest friend ever. She was a Brit and spent the Blitz in London. We were in the grocery one day and I said jokingly, "Want some Spam?" I was shocked when she grabbed a couple of cans.

"Oh, Pat, you can't understand what it was like when Spam started to arrive in England in the war. We didn't have meat and Spam was heavenly."

Spam is hated and does have an interesting history.
"[FONT="]It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff was consumed by Russian forces during the war as well. “Without Spam, we wouldn’t have been able to feed our army,” Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev later said."
[/FONT]http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/09/28/6-things-never-knew-about-spam/

I like spam. Don't eat it often because of the high fat content, there is a lite version. Make some mac and cheese (egg shell type) once cooked mix in a small can or less of chopped (cubed) spam and maybe a little hot sauce and you have a quick and easy and tasty meal, just add a salad on the side. Slices also make good sandwich meat.
Oh and it has a 5 year or more shelf life, for those interested in such things.
 
There is no edible kind of spam.
 
There is no edible kind of spam.

You just have to cook it the right way:
Start by slicing it very thin. Then grill it over high heat for about 3 hours. Throw out the charred remains, clean the grill and fix yourself a steak on the hot grill.
 
When I was a kid we sometimes had Spam sandwiches and it was popular when cooking in the woods. Fried in a skillet and it was pretty tasty. I learned that they loved it in Hawaii but most people seemed to be snooty about Spam.

Then I met my dearest friend ever. She was a Brit and spent the Blitz in London. We were in the grocery one day and I said jokingly, "Want some Spam?" I was shocked when she grabbed a couple of cans.

"Oh, Pat, you can't understand what it was like when Spam started to arrive in England in the war. We didn't have meat and Spam was heavenly."

Spam is hated and does have an interesting history.
"[FONT="]It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff was consumed by Russian forces during the war as well. “Without Spam, we wouldn’t have been able to feed our army,” Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev later said."
[/FONT]http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/09/28/6-things-never-knew-about-spam/
You lost me with the bolded.

Are you saying Spam has now become a desirable item of the moment, like the resurgence of biscuits & gravy in hip restaurants, or maybe PBR?
 
When I was a kid we sometimes had Spam sandwiches and it was popular when cooking in the woods. Fried in a skillet and it was pretty tasty. I learned that they loved it in Hawaii but most people seemed to be snooty about Spam.

Then I met my dearest friend ever. She was a Brit and spent the Blitz in London. We were in the grocery one day and I said jokingly, "Want some Spam?" I was shocked when she grabbed a couple of cans.

"Oh, Pat, you can't understand what it was like when Spam started to arrive in England in the war. We didn't have meat and Spam was heavenly."

Spam is hated and does have an interesting history.
"[FONT="]It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff was consumed by Russian forces during the war as well. “Without Spam, we wouldn’t have been able to feed our army,” Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev later said."
[/FONT]http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/09/28/6-things-never-knew-about-spam/

Spam was tasty enough, though I did prefer corned beef. But my favorite of the treated meats was always hot pastrami on rye.
 
You lost me with the bolded.

Are you saying Spam has now become a desirable item of the moment, like the resurgence of biscuits & gravy in hip restaurants, or maybe PBR?

That is a quote from the article so it isn't me saying anything. The quote you highlighted appears to have an error with the also missing in, "..."It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff wa also consumed by Russian forces during the war as well."

So, I'm saying I ate Spam when I was young and my dearest friend loved it when it arrived in London during the Blitz. My only other observation was that Spam is hated and some of the posts already bear that out.

I have no idea what PBR might be. A Google search got me Pabst Blue Ribbon.

But, now that you mentioned biscuits and gravy. I can't get that where I live in Mexico but I can get sausage and my sister cooks biscuits and gravy when she's visiting Mexico in the winter.
 
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I don't buy Spam--too salty for me, but this thread takes me back to my childhood because at my grandparents', lunch was dinner, the big meal, and supper was light. Spam or sardines or Campbell's chicken noodle soup with saltine crackers. My little sister and I thought this was heaven because we didn't eat this way at home. We had no idea at all that it was because our grandparents were of humble means.

So I love Spam just for that.
 
There is no edible kind of spam.

I used to make burnt spam sandwiches as a kid, and I still love them even until now.
 
That is a quote from the article so it isn't me saying anything. The quote you highlighted appears to have an error with the also missing in, "..."It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff wa also consumed by Russian forces during the war as well."

So, I'm saying I ate Spam when I was young and my dearest friend loved it when it arrived in London during the Blitz. My only other observation was that Spam is hated and some of the posts already bear that out.

I have no idea what PBR might be. A Google search got me Pabst Blue Ribbon.

But, now that you mentioned biscuits and gravy. I can't get that where I live in Mexico but I can get sausage and my sister cooks biscuits and gravy when she's visiting Mexico in the winter.
Ah, K. Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, spam gets it's share of hate! And PBR is Pabst Blue Ribbon, and it's (still) swill water in my book. It was the cheap stuff sold at my old parish carnivals when I was a kid!

It's just so funny how some of the older things in life get rediscovered by younger generations, and become not just desirable but can get a cult-like following. Even the stuff that may have been crap, back then.

I though maybe Spam might be going through this.
 
We regularly had Spam when I was growing up, my dad having served in WWII knew of it then, and my mom learned to prepare it in a way that was tasty, especially on camping trips.

And despite having consumed a good quantity of it as a kid, I didn't grow up to become an adult who is compelled to send unsolicited irrelevant or inappropriate mass e-mails to people.
 
And to contribute a little to this thread:

Spam is *huge* in Filipino circles! Go to any Pinoy deli, and I guarantee you it will be there! And displayed prominently, too.

I suspect it got introduced into the culture by MacArthur's G.I.s.
 
Spam was tasty enough, though I did prefer corned beef. But my favorite of the treated meats was always hot pastrami on rye.
Pass the mustard!

Shalom!
 
And to contribute a little to this thread:

Spam is *huge* in Filipino circles! Go to any Pinoy deli, and I guarantee you it will be there! And displayed prominently, too.

I suspect it got introduced into the culture by MacArthur's G.I.s.

It's huge in Hawaii as well, spam musubi is a state dish along with the loco moco!
 
When I was a kid we sometimes had Spam sandwiches and it was popular when cooking in the woods. Fried in a skillet and it was pretty tasty. I learned that they loved it in Hawaii but most people seemed to be snooty about Spam.

Then I met my dearest friend ever. She was a Brit and spent the Blitz in London. We were in the grocery one day and I said jokingly, "Want some Spam?" I was shocked when she grabbed a couple of cans.

"Oh, Pat, you can't understand what it was like when Spam started to arrive in England in the war. We didn't have meat and Spam was heavenly."

Spam is hated and does have an interesting history.
"[FONT="]It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff was consumed by Russian forces during the war as well. “Without Spam, we wouldn’t have been able to feed our army,” Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev later said."
[/FONT]http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/09/28/6-things-never-knew-about-spam/

Spam was popular in ww2 and korea because it had a high shelf life, and was easier to transport than salted pork and beef. Much like ramen spread made in prisons, soldiers made due with what they had, which was spam, and they learned to make it edible and eventually grew to like it.


hawaii has a love affair with spam because during ww2, getting fresh pork was hard, and in some places nearly impossible with much of the food going to soldiers. hawaii being an island rather than a mainland state was hit much harder by this, but they got alot of excess military spam. They adapted better than everyone else when presented with spam as a pork option, since they like using it in many of their recipes many decades after the war.

Edit- a quick google search shows that during ww2 beef milk cheese and pork were strictly rationed during ww2, even canned meats. The non rationed foods were eggs, poultry, fish, and ------spam! Apparently even then they agreed spam was not real pork.
 
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That is a quote from the article so it isn't me saying anything. The quote you highlighted appears to have an error with the also missing in, "..."It may be common knowledge that Spam was popular with American servicemen during WW II, a whopping 100 million pounds of the stuff wa also consumed by Russian forces during the war as well."

So, I'm saying I ate Spam when I was young and my dearest friend loved it when it arrived in London during the Blitz. My only other observation was that Spam is hated and some of the posts already bear that out.

I have no idea what PBR might be. A Google search got me Pabst Blue Ribbon.

But, now that you mentioned biscuits and gravy. I can't get that where I live in Mexico but I can get sausage and my sister cooks biscuits and gravy when she's visiting Mexico in the winter.

You can get flour milk and sausage fat though in mexico, very easy to make homemade biscuits and gravy.
 
I can provide a different kind of spam but only if replied to
 
I like Spam. It's great fried as a sandwich, and sometimes as a meat in some kind of other dish. Not so much uncooked. We used to eat it often when I was a kid, especially on camping trips. I only get it roughly once a year now, but when I do it's almost like a treat.

Have you ever been to the Spam Museum? I have, about 6 or 7 years ago, and it's actually quite interesting. I kid you not. Lots of stuff on the history, especially WW2, etc.
 
My problem with spam is that it's typically more expensive per pound than real, actual ham.
 
SPAM Tacos


1 (12-ounce) can SPAM® Classic, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
12 small new potatoes, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 Anaheim pepper, chopped
8 corn taco shells
2 cups torn romaine lettuce
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Diced tomatoes
Sour cream
Thick & Chunky mild salsa



In skillet, cook SPAM® Classic, potatoes and Anaheim over medium heat, turning occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Fill each taco shell with about 1/4 cup each SPAM® mixture and romaine. Top with cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and salsa.

Hormel Foods Recipes > Recipes: SPAM Tacos



http://www.hormelfoodsrecipes.com/images/RecipeImage.ashx?RecipeImageId=3418&maxWidth=246
 
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