Spam, the delicacy that won the war.

Just when we had a good spam thread started, it was deleted because it was that cyber kind of spam that we don't want to encourage.

But, the actual WWII Spam helped win the war. Supply people needed a way to turn a hog into a gelatinous mass that would fuel soldiers without actually killing them, thus; Spam! Sometimes it made soldiers want to die, but once that glob of fat, salt and hog rectum landed in their belly they'd dash straight to the latrine; or at least dash somewhere, and if the enemy was in that direction then Spam had served its purpose.

We sent millions of cans of Spam to the Russians and they loved it! Or, at least they didn't send it back.

Spam has always been a staple on my hunting and camping trips. If you fry spam in the morning it's kind of like bacon, or cover it with enough mustard and it's not a bad lunch sandwich. You can roll it in flour and make it into a cutlet (of sorts) for dinner.

I haven't had any Spam in several years so I just instructed the wife to pick up a can and she laughed at me, but then when she saw that I was serious about that, she agreed. Reluctantly.

I can't wait!

 

Pan fried Spam was a regular part of breakfast when I was a kid. Today, the state that consumes the most Spam per capita is Hawaii. Weird, eh?

And what thread about Spam could survive long without someone posting this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

 

I haven't had a good British boiled Spam dinner, in... well, ever. I'm sure Urqh will be along with a traditional west midlands country Spam recipe to tell us how much water to boil the Spam in. And should one throw a carrot in, or would that be too continental?

 

In the early months of 1944 my then umit, the 49th LAA changed fronts in Italy and we joined the American 5th Army prior to the various battles for Cassino.

One of the few benifits was sharing in their food sorces and I was introduced to Spam.

Compared to British Bully Beef it was nectar and when fried was actualy tasty !

Ron

 

There's a wonderful dash of conditional in that sentence!

 

Everything about Spam is conditional. Really, the only virtue is that it's in a can and doesn't spoil, so you can have meat in places where you ordinarily couldn't. Spam was popular here in the US back in the 60's. People would chop it up with potatoes and make a kind of hash of it, or fry it with breakfast. We only ate it on camping trips, maybe because Dad was a vet and didn't care for it.

Ron, above, remarks that it was real treat after a year or two of bully beef. I'm sure the reverse would also be true - eat Spam for a year and canned beef would be a real treat.

 

During the war my mother in Scotland would take every opportunity to have Spam fritters. The odd thing is that her father was a butcher so she was never deprived of fresh meat or eggs for that matter. I bought her a tin one Christmas a couple of years ago and put it in her stocking. She was delighted!

 

I like it. Don't eat it regularly, but enjoy it from time to time. Good fried for breakfast and great for camping or fried for a sandwich.

 

Well, I stopped myself yesterday and today... barely... in the store. Gagged at the site of it.

But now, I am in 1-800-BIG-FAIL mode. Life as a victim. Nipping down to the grocer now. Sigh.
Shaken but stirred, determined that tonights dinner will be your danged Spam Boiled Dinner "final meal for the condemned." :whip:

WW2 era Recipe, @ WW2 Era ingredients: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=352191

Fair warning KodiakBeer. I will find a way to retaliate. On day, some how, one way or another this one is gonna come back to haunt you.
Start losing sleep now. That end of life moment coming at ya, is so, so much easier when you are thoroughly mentally prepared.

Get Ready. Nuff Said Fred.

 

I've read where the Rooskies called Spam "Roosevelt Sausage." Not sure what they really thought of the culinary portion of lend-lease, but it had to be better than nothing.

It's a good survival meal here in the hurricane prone areas. When one is coming down the pipe, the rush on the supermarkets goes into full swing and all the Spam disapears right away. After the huuricane season passes (30 Nov) I usually donate them to the food bank after eating a couple of cans first. Thin-cut fried Spam isn't so bad, and I've cubed them up and cooked them in Ramen noodles before too. It's acceptable fare I guess. It's ok in gumbo too.

 

In defense of Spam, I've had some MRE's (Meals Rejected by the Enemy) that make Spam taste like a perfectly prepared Christmas ham.

 

I had Spam for lunch today; sliced, rolled in a bit of flour and fried. The only real problem is it's too damned salty. I may have the other half can for dinner, maybe cubed and fried with potatoes to cut down on the salty taste.

You'll find me in my basement, armed and crouched behind a case of Spam. Bring it on!!!!!!

 

I don't know, MRE's are Haute Cuisine compared to the old C-Rats. I remember when I went in the Marine Corps the C-Rats we were eating had been packed before I was born! I can remember eating a can of unheated Spagetti while going to the Mountain Warfrae School at Pickel Meadows. It was cold and they were congealed. First, you scraped about a half inch of congealed grease that had settled to the top. Throw in some Tobasco to hide the taste and dive in. Got about halfway in and saw a strange Y shaped noodle. Pulled it out and looked closer at it and it was hollow like a tube. Finally, dawned on me it was a vein. Threw it down and continued eating. Ummm Ummm good. Then we got the LURP Rats and the original version of the MRE's. Remember the first time I got a dehydrated beef patty with dehydrated hash brown patty. We were at Pendleton, the heat was terrible and we were short on water because we had to pour it over some heat casualties to try and get their body temp down quickly. We couldn't get resupplied and I drew one of the dehydrated meals. I ate it but it was crunchy, nasty, tasteless, like little chunks of dusty cardboard. Drank some of the little water I had left to wash it down. A very bad Idea. The dehydrated meals were replaced rather quickly because of the logistical problem of the extra water. I hated to lose the LURP rations because they were actually really good. The modern MRE's are a veritable feast compared to the old RATs.

 

I was thinking sort of the same thing. The Vietnam-era c-rats we were issued were pretty ok, and the occasional lurp was nice, but a can of Spam every now and then in the field would have been like Thanksgiving dinner.

 

The last time I has spam was when a friend mixed some with pasta. I won't miss it

 

Love it! Had some this weekend. Fried in a flour tortilla with egg. Mmmmm.

 

Only meat that I know of that has its own religion:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult#Pacific_cults_of_World_War_II

I love it but it has too much salt for me

 

I can't believe some of you still love it. Give me a T-bone instead.

 

Spam spagg.....Boil water, add spagg....Fry cubed up spam in pan...in butter....add tomato paste tube...stir furiously...Drain spagg...add to spam..throw in grated nutmeg...stir furiously....Serve....yum yum yum....I've put this on this forum about 5 times...is no one eating it?

 

spagg???