Spam free
When the word Spam is spoken it likely conjures up one of two images for you: unwanted email or mystery meat in a can. I would like to go on record and state that we enjoy neither of them!
Anyone who uses a computer is familiar with the former, and more modern definition. Fortunately the filters on my email accounts block the majority of it. I just wish those Viagra peddlers would realize that they’ve got the wrong guy on their list! Most of you may not be aware that even this Blog is not safe from spammers. If it were not for the plugin Akismet, which blocks spam from being posted to this blog, I would have a lot more work to do.
Now, with respect to the “food” definition (I had to put the word food in quotes, for reasons that are likely obvious to many of you), we don’t enjoy that either. We did try though, really, as having the ability to stock our boat with some inexpensive food products that have a shelf life of a couple of millennia did sound appealing, but after several attempts at eating the stuff, we both had to call it quits on the idea. I think my parents must have traumatized me with this stuff when I was a kid!
My nightmare food from childhood was and is ground beef. My mothers favorite and only cookbook was “101 Recipes for Ground Beef”, shudder. Occasionally she would treat us to corned beef and mashed potatoes, and it was a treat.
I was 17 when I joined the Navy and at boot camp I was aghast at the amount and variety of food in the mess hall, I even asked the cook what was rising from the corn! “Steam” was his reply. I immediately phoned home and told my siblings to heat the corn up and melt butter on it! I detest canned goods to this day but will have to adapt….
LOL.
Spam is good! You just have to fry it to death. We always knew we were really roughing it on camping trips when Mom cooked Spam on the campfire. Fry it and try it mixed with scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa in a tortilla. Mmmm, that’s camping food Texas style.
As an alternative I think I’ll work on improving my fishing skills. 😉
I think Spam is one of those things that comes under the heading of
“edible non-food substances” , as mentioned by an author whose name escapes me at the moment! That said, we also ate it as kids. I think it was considered patriotic or something. Part of the war effort during WW II. I also think it was fed to the troops! I vaguely recall my grandmother frying it in that stuff that you added yellow food coloring to to make it look like butter, and brown sugar. I suppose that was to disguise it so we would eat it!
Trivia from wikipedia:
Introduced on July 5, 1937, the name “Spam” was chosen when the product, whose original name was far less memorable (Hormel Spiced Ham), began to lose market shares. The name was chosen from multiple entries in a naming contest. A Hormel official once stated that the original meaning of the name “Spam” was “Shoulder of Pork and Ham”. According to writer Marguerite Patten in Spam – The Cookbook, the name was suggested by Kenneth Daigneau, an actor and the brother of a Hormel vice president, who was given a $100 prize for creating the name. At one time, the official explanation was that the name was a portmanteau of “Spiced Ham”. According to the British documentary-reality show “1940’s House”, when SPAM was offered by the US to those affected by WWII in the UK, SPAM stood for Specially Processed American Meats. Many jocular backronyms have been devised, such as “Something Posing As Meat”, “Specially Processed Artificial Meat”, “Stuff, Pork and Ham”, “Spare Parts Animal Meat” and “Special Product of Austin Minnesota”.
In Scotland we (meaning the locals) make everything much more appealing by deep frying everything in batter including Mars Bars, Snickers, and yes even Spam commonly referred to as Spam Fritters!
Try it with a can of ginger (Irn Bru™) topped up with the worst blended scotch you can find (Bells™) for the real deal Scottish Meal aka ‘the heart attack’.
You both thought that this was a Jiu Jitsu move but no my friends the term was imported to Brazil many years ago from some drunken Scots castaway and has been adopted by those that follow the Jits.
Eat the heart attack on a daily basis and you too will continue to practise the jits! Be warned it will not just be spam you’ll need to stock up on.
I understand your retinence to avoid the said substance and therefore suggest vacuum sealing all foods where possible for longevity and as you yourself suggested improving your sea angling skills.
Spam certainly is not for everyone, much like haggis and black pudding.
Deep fried snickers and mars bars? Although I have never had these I am game to try them.
The rest…? Only when we make it to Scotland. 🙂
My ah-hah moment, visiting our favority destination, Hawaii and seeing SPAM on the menu at the local McDonalds on the Big Island. They love the stuff in Hawaii! I did find it modestly edible, as someone above said while serving in the Air Force and spending a month at a remote base in Jordan with very little fresh food. We mixed spam with local fresh eggs and pita bread (that included little bits of sand) to make a fairly edible meal.
Hmmm…this gets me to thinking..a cruise to Hawaii sounds pretty special! 🙂 Lots of open blue between land masses on that cruise!
Sand… that’s an interesting ingredient.