Spam is everywhere. But how much do you really know about the
world's most ubiquitous mystery meat? From turning the tide in World War Two to
saving the population of Hawaii, here's a look at what you should really know about
Spam. There are plenty of guesses to what Spam actually
stands for: Something Posing As Meat. Specially Processed American Meat. Slimy Processed Anemic Mucus? But the real answer is even more mysterious:
nobody actually knows. According to the official SPAM website, the
truth was probably only known to a few former Hormel executives, but considering Spam was
invented way back in 1937, the secret is probably lost to us forever. We do know how it was named, though. According to Neatorama, Jay Hormel threw a
party and told guests they'd each get a free drink if they wrote down a potential name
for the new canned meat. One of the party-goers blurted out the name
"Spam" and the rest is history. Though Spam is considered the king of the
mystery meats, it's actually no mystery at all. In fact, Spam only contains six simple ingredients:
Pork, water, sugar, potato starch, sodium nitrate, and, as anyone who has ever eaten
Spam can tell you, a whole heck of a lot of salt. How much? A single 2 ounce serving of Spam contains
790 milligrams of sodium, equal to a third of your entire daily recommended intake. Add in 16 grams of fat per serving and you
have some idea why Spam isn't exactly considered a health food. The fact that Gordon Ramsay has a negative
opinion of something isn't exactly breaking news. "I could cry. What a joke. Wow." But he has a special place in his black heart
for Spam. On an episode of the British television series,
Hotel GB, Ramsay recalled a dish from his childhood, saying that his dislike for the
canned meat is what led him to the kitchen. "Sliced, disgusting f---ing Spam. Did you grow up with that stuff? I did. I had Spam every Friday night. I decided to cook for a living to stop eating
so much s---." Tell us how you really feel, Gordon! It helped win the war Soldiers on the front couldn't always get
home cooking, but during World War II, Hormel shipped tens of millions of cans of Spam overseas
to feed the Allied troops. Many of them got sick of eating Spam all the
time, but despite that, Spam's contributions to the war effort were widely praised. Former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev wrote
in his memoir, "There were many jokes going around in the
army, some of them off-color, about American Spam; it tasted good, nonetheless. Without Spam, we wouldn't have been able to
feed our army. We had lost our most fertile lands." And after the war, General Dwight D. Eisenhower
wrote to a Hormel executive, "I ate my share of Spam along with millions
of other soldiers. I'll even confess to a few unkind remarks
about it, uttered during the strain of battle, you understand. But as former Commander in Chief, I believe
I can still forgive you your only sin: Sending us so much of it." High praise for such a loathed product. "One of the most beloved staples of Hawaiian
cuisine, of course, is this guy…" "Spam?" "Oh, they're big Spam eaters. They love it." "Are you serious?" Following the end of World War II, the U.S.
government placed restrictions on Hawaii's deep-sea fishing industry, which was largely
worked by Japanese-Americans. Food historian Rachel Laudan told Eater, "Unlike the mainland, they couldn't intern
all the Japanese [in Hawaii]. The economy would have collapsed. Because islanders were no longer allowed to
fish, one of the important sources of protein for the islands vanished." Without one of their main sources of protein,
the population of Hawaii was in grave danger. But they were saved thanks to a huge influx
of Spam, which also contributed to fending off starvation in war ravaged Korea and Japan. To this day, Spam remains insanely popular
in Hawaii, with residents eating more than 7 million cans each year. "A new poll says Hawaii is the happiest state. I think I know why-ee." Monty Python's notorious 1970 "Spam" sketch
not only turned the canned meat into a pop culture phenomenon, it also led to the coining
of the term "spam" in reference to unwanted email. According to Hormel's old website, "Use of the term 'SPAM' was adopted as a result
of the Monty Python skit in which a group of Vikings sang a chorus of 'SPAM, SPAM, SPAM…'
in an increasing crescendo, drowning out other conversation. Hence, the analogy applied because UCE (unsolicited
commercial email) was drowning out normal discourse on the internet." Hormel has been a good sport about it all,
though, even releasing a special edition can of Spam for the Broadway debut of Monty Python's
"Spamalot" musical. "Could I have egg, bacon, Spam, and sausage
without the Spam?" "Yuuuch!" Spam is an easy target for jokes, but the
numbers prove that plenty of people actually love it. Since its introduction in 1937, over 8 billion
cans of Spam have been sold around the world, with 15 varieties offered in 44 countries. Guam leads the way in Spam consumption, with
the average citizen eating 16 cans per year. So how does Hormel keep up with that kind
of demand? Technology. Hormel processes Spam in 8,000 pound batches
thanks to a special oven that can simultaneously cook 66,000 cans of Spam. That kind of volume allows Hormel to produce
an astonishing 350 cans of Spam every single minute. "Pork shoulder and ham meat are taken from
this picnic boning line and used for the manufacture of Spam, the most popular luncheon mean in
the country." But the number that really shows how much
people love Spam is one - which is how many times someone has created a cocktail using
Spam. Chicago's Duck Inn designed the Spam Mai Tai,
which uses baked Spam to infuse rum with that signature canned meat flavor. All we can say is: drink up!
Dude spam musubi is the bomb.
Keeps them buoyant.
Spam fried rice is the shit.
I eat more than 16 cans
I'm 25 and have literally never had spam in my life....
I like it, but it isn't very healthy, so I buy about 1 can per year. I toast some whole wheat bread and put a slice of cheese, mayo, tomato, and spam on it. It is delicious.
SPAM is delicious. Eisenhower credited it as the meat that defeated the Nazis. So if you don't eat SPAM you are literally Hitler.
Back in high school ham and cheese day was a 1/3" slab of SPAM, American cheese and a standard hamburger bun (basically looked just like the pic on the SPAM can). But by god it was delicious. Second only to pizza day as the school favorite.
Partners dad is very wealthy, he still eats spam regularly.