Spam Spam Spam!
The good, the bad and the ugly…
Love it or hate it, it is and has been such a staple in our diets since 5th July 1937 when Homel launched Spam to increase sales of pork shoulder which at this time was not a popular cut of pork.
Tinned Spam Ingredients
Pork shoulder
Ham
Salt
Water
Potato starch
Sugar
Sodium nitrate
As a child of the 1970’s this was a staple along with canned corn beef in my childhood home, I would wake up to a fried spam, cheap white bread, buttery sandwich, where the fat and heat of the spam melted the butter in the sandwich making a hot greasy gotta shove this sandwich in my mouth gorgeousness, a personal favourite even now but alas I don’t allow myself this luxurious spam treat anymore due to cleaner healthier eating, but I did find myself reminiscing of a fried spam sandwich, so I thought why don’t I make some fresh Spam!
No nitrites, no nitrates and lower salt.
Spam a unsung Hero!
Putting aside the processed high fat and salt, tinned cooked health points, Spam got all our troops through world war 11 as getting fresh meat to the servicemen on the front line was just not logistical, a “wartime delicacy” as quoted by our former British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher. Even today spam is still a choice on military vessels and bases. At the end of the war Spam was sent to help feed the the people struggling in Europe.
During rationing the Spam fritter was born, served to the armed forces and British children during the school years of rationing.
US service men referred to Spam as “Ham that didn’t pass its physical” “Meatloaf without it’s basic training”.
The British were supplied with canned corn beef and the Americans with canned spam, often there would be a trade off for a change in taste between the troops.
Spam commonly referred to as low income food, unjustly so, has supported people in countries that are war torn in conflict and facing strict rationing, moreover spam is affordable, easily accessible and has a long extended shelf life.
Monty Python and SPAM
The UK television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus was an funny television series in the 1970’s, one of their sketches featured a fabulous scene in a cafe selling spam with every dish and ends in the classic song, sing…spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam!
Processed Food
Spam is a salty processed canned pork and ham (luncheon meat), that is high in fat, sodium and preservatives that is cooked in its tin on the production line at the factory, all this does not sound healthy in todays cleaner more informed fresh is best eating, which leads spam to lean towards not terribly healthy if eaten on a regular basis.
How cool is this a SPAM history museum based in “Spam Town” Austin, Minnesota!
HAWAIIA
Spam is a super popular part of Hawaiian cuisine, a top favourite lunch dish is musubi a sort of sushi, two slices of spam sandwiched between rice and a center wrap of nori dried seaweed, it is belevied a can of spam is opened every 4 seconds, with 3.8 cans consumed every second in the US, making a approximate 122 million cans of spam consumed annually, this accounts for 30% of the US population.
In Hawaiia spam is often referred to as portagee steak or Hawaiian steak.
Spam is very much in favour in South East Asia with the Phillippines consuming 1.2 million kilos annually again due to the service men during world war 11.
Fun Facts
Spamarama
A annual competition in Austin, the founders felt there was so many BBQ cook out competitions they could promote a competition to create brilliant spam recipes.
August 8th National Spam Day in Hawaiia.
Hawaiia island Oaho every spring hosts a Waikki Spam Jam.
Burger King has a spam and cheese breakfast burger.
Mac Donald’s has a spam burger.
Johnny’s restaurant has a Spamarama menu.
Question?
Would you consider a British Melton Mowbray Pork Pie the same as Spam? What’s the difference, pastry case instead of tin? As a pork pie purveyor I will advocate that a traditional hand raised lard pastry pork pie is miles ahead of a tin of spam, but why when the ingredients are virtually the same bar some extra seasoning and added natural jelly gelatine and pastry case not tin?
10 minutes prep / 3 hrs cooking / Overnight fridge pressing
Ingredients
1 kg pork shoulder
100g ham
100g pork back fat finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp sugar
5g pink curing salt (optional)
Pre heat your oven 110 C / 230 F
Place the pork, ham and garlic through a meat grinder / mincer twice until finely ground, mix well with the rest of the ingredients, (I do not use the curing salt as I don’t want nitrates and nitrate preservatives, opting out of this means your spam will not be as pink).
Place the mix in a small loaf tin and pack down well, place the loaf tin in a deep saucepan 3/4 filled with hot water (known as a bain marie) and place in the oven for up to 3 hours.
Using a temperature probe once your spam loaf has reached 85 C / 185 F remove from the oven and the bain marie saucepan, cover the loaf pan with foil, take a brick, Yes I Said Brick! Cover with foil and place on top of the loaf tin to use as a weight press to compress the spam.
Place in the fridge overnight to set, that’s it, glorious fresh spam, no preservatives and lower in salt, ready for you to use, this will keep for 5 days in the fridge.
Spam Spread may just be over my boundary’s line !!!
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