Search
Remembrance of things Spam
Too much ham in a can
From While my sautoir gently sweats — Blog by John Dryzga
May 18, 2009
The simple occurance of the smell of Madelines wafting past his nose launched Proust into a reverie that lasted for volumes. The news about the uptick in Spam sales immediately brought me back to being a little boy, listening to one of my father’s WWII stories.
My father served in the Navy during the war. He spent most of the war in the Pacific but not on a warship. Instead, he repaired the ships that were damaged in battle. When he was close to the frontlines, he and his fellow sailors ate well. When the front moved, the good food moved with it. This left my father only such delicacies as powdered eggs and Spam for sustanance. Spam for breakfast, Spam for lunch, and Spam for dinner. Maybe even a nice Spam cake for dessert. My poor father was living a Monty Python sketch thiry years before it was written.
In the midst of this Spam-fueled puragatory, a package from home arrived. My father tore into the package to see what little taste of home his mother lovingly sent him. Perhaps something from his father’s butcher shop? Some candy or some other sweet? Oh no. There staring back at him mockingly was a can of Spam. My grandmother thought that this ham in a can would be an incredible treat for my dad. My father just sighed, put the Spam on a shelf, and went back to thinking about the sights, smells and tastes of home.
| | Ramp landThe exploitation of an unusual vegetableFeeling conflicted over heritage. |
The Produce DiariesMorelsPleasure in the hunt | Dinner Guest BlogA quiche lessonThe crux is the crust |
FeaturesFabulous favasA green herald of summer | Dinner Guest BlogWabi-sabi cookeryCooking is a constant history lesson |
Most Popular Articles
Editor’s Choice
Most Emailed
Main RSS Feed
| About RSS
| Privacy Policy
| User Agreement
| Advertisers
| Follow Culinate on
Facebook
or 
Twitter Copyright © 2006–2012 Culinate, Inc. All rights reserved. r2a8d55e06bf1
There are 9 comments on this item
Add a comment
1. by Rachael Warrington on May 18, 2009 at 11:14 AM PDT
This made me giggle. My father-in-law, will not touch a can of spam. He was on the front lines in the Asian arena, and they did not eat well. Spam three times a day.
2. by Kim on May 18, 2009 at 11:42 AM PDT
John, thanks for this tale — and reminder that despite food fashion, some things don’t change. We’re going to add a photo, tinker with the headline, and promote it as a finalist in our blogging contest. Congratulations!
3. by Kim on May 18, 2009 at 12:16 PM PDT
One more thing: I added the Monty Python video, which I, for one, hadn’t seen recently enough.
4. by Marilyn Noble on May 18, 2009 at 3:10 PM PDT
We used to eat Spam a lot (sorry, couldn’t resist) when I was a kid. It was cheap and great with lots of ketchup.
And Kim, thanks for the Monty Python video. I think I ate in that particular British diner -- the only difference was that the woman behind the counter held a cigarette in her spatula hand and the ashes fell in the eggs as she scrambled them. Oh, and I don’t think they had Spam.
Great post! Thanks.
5. by Laura Parisi on May 18, 2009 at 9:28 PM PDT
I’ve never actually had spam. But I get the sense that I’m not missing out on much.
Great story!
6. by ruth_117 on May 19, 2009 at 7:48 AM PDT
We never ate spam growing up, however my husband did and still loves it fried up crisp and served with eggs. I have tried it a few times and just don’t understand what is so good about it. I would rather have just one slice of bacon rather than a whole mess of the fried spam!
7. by Suzanne Mandell on May 20, 2009 at 1:48 PM PDT
My husband was stationed in Libya in the mid 1970s. His sweet little grandmother back home in Cleveland sent him a Christmas gift that took 4 months to find him in Libya. He said the entire city, including the shops, sidewalks, doorways, bars, etc. was littered with towering piles of rotting, sickeningly sweet-smelling dates from the date palms that lined every street. His gift from his sweet little grandma back in Cleveland, the gift that had followed him around the globe: a beatiful Christmas tin of sugared, pitted dates!
8. by DawnHeather Simmons on May 20, 2009 at 3:04 PM PDT
My dad loved the stuff, fried crisp and dotted with a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Mom made a “ham salad” out of Spam, Miracle Whip, sweet pickles, and onions. Although I really don’t like three out of the four ingredients, I often get cravings for this particular sandwich filling! As for myself, I do eat Mom’s ham salad at least a few times a year, but otherwise don’t touch the stuff, generally speaking, although I always have at least one can on hand. It IS true that Hawai`ians eat more Spam than anyone on the planet -- and I learned to make Spam musubi when I lived there -- learned how, but never do it! I, however, collect spam recipes, just for yucks. It was an ongoing joke at one of my former jobs whenever we had a potluck... As for Monty Python, I agree with Kim -- you just can’t see that video enough!!!
9. by Joseph Parisi on May 23, 2009 at 7:00 AM PDT
When in college in South Carolina we lived in an old house on Hampton Street. Five of us, total rent for this four square four bedroom house was $125.00
a month . Thursday nite was grocery shopping nite by the time we got home we would be hungry so I would open a can of SPAM ,dice it
along with cubes of Velvetta and boil some shell macaroni place it in a Pyrex baking dish and bake until golden brown. We did this every thursday nite for one year as a cost cutting measure.It was a Betty Crocker reciepe and was the year I started to learn to cook. Nice article. Gave me a great flash back.
Add a comment