Mystery meat

I'll be honest with you, I've never even tried the canned meat product SPAM.

Now, 1.3 million Hawaiians can't be wrong but to be frank, SPAM scares the crap out of me. Is something that looks like a soggy pink brick supposed to be edible?

I read an article in Time magazine last week saying sales of the pre-cooked pork shoulder concoction are up. (My favorite sentence from the article: "A Spam virgin, he blanched a bit when it plonked out of the can, all pink like a newborn mole rat." hahaha.) Apparently, some chefs have already worked with the "spiced ham" meat, and think it's light, airy texture can be used in a variety of ways. I'm not so sure.

The New York Times also featured an article on how Hormel has been producing more of the stuff over the last year. Because more and more people can't afford normal foods, they've started budgeting, and buying things like canned meat, mac and cheese, instant potatoes, and jello. Sounds kind of like my college diet, sans SPAM.


Here are a few facts about SPAM:

-- Hormel introduced SPAM during the Great Depression in the 1930s, as a substitute for real meat. Cheaper to make + cheaper to buy = wallet- and recession-friendly.

--Ingredients: Pork, ham, sugar, salt, potato starch and sodium nitrite. Gross.

--There are 12 different varieties of SPAM including Spam classic, Spam spread, Spam Oven Roasted Turkey (two different animals?!), and Spam with Cheese.

--McDonald's restaurants in Hawaii features SPAM on their menu.

--Some acronyms: "Stuff Posing As Meat," "Stuff, Pork And Ham" or "Spare Parts Animal Meat" OMNOMNOM.

-- SPAM is vacuum-sealed and does not require refrigeration. SPAM's website says it can last forever in the right conditions. I have my doubts...


Now I just have to bring myself to buy it. hmm...