Flack wrote:then again, I was 8-years-old and still regularly ate dirt and boogers

Hey, I'm <i><b>39</b></i> and I still regularly...

eh, never mind.

Flack wrote:I guess when I think about Spam I think about people being dirt poor.

I only eat SPAM because it lets me pretend that I'm living in Hawaii, which is the only place I truly want to be.

RetroRomper wrote:

pinback wrote:The secret to SPAM is to cook it long enough. Let's face it, raw SPAM is about as appetizing as a spoonful of Crisco. If you fry it in a pan for a little while, that nauseating slimy greasiness and flabby taste tends to go away. Leave it in a bit longer, until it really starts to brown and crisp up, and it magically turns into a MEAT-LIKE EXPLOSION OF DELICIOUS FLAVORS!!!!!!!!

That is the secret of SPAM.

Do you eat it straight up after frying? I've had it with mango sauce a number of times, tried ketchup, and would even shove it into a fried egg sandwich but am curious if you go through any extra steps to prepare it?

I eat it straight up, or put it into a fried egg sandwich. I have never sauced.

Knuckles and my grandmother used to have boxes and boxes of "Puffed Rice." I remember her having lots of it, but it wouldn't surprise me if she had one box for the entire time the two of us were growing up, and I just thought she tore through a box a week. I am sure my brother will have more details, as his mind is of a scientific bent.

But Puffed Rice is the food I associate with poor people. I don't think she was especially poor, but someone told me she must have lived through the Great Depression, and since they didn't have jobs that consisted mainly of 1) people changing the dead authors on their wireless eBook devices into topless fashion models and 2) light computer programming, I assume she suffered a great deal. Thus the cereal.

I guess the thing that strikes me about "poor = Puffed Rice" is that all they could afford to do to food to make it seem like there was more there is pump it with air. I guess that's the part that really screams poverty to me. At least, if you're going to fill it with air, stick a saltlick in there.

Anyway, that's my fourth-grade understanding of the Great Depression.

My only experience with Spam (the "meat") comes from my Grandma. As a kid I used to spend the night with her from time to time, and in the morning she would always cook me Spam and Scrambled Eggs. I don't remember it being particularly terrible ... then again, I was 8-years-old and still regularly ate dirt and boogers, so Spam could have been on par with them for all I know.

The thing is, my Grandma was dirt poor. For Christmas spending money she would collect aluminum cans and recycle them. Most of the gifts I remember getting from her were hand-knitted. I guess when I think about Spam I think about people being dirt poor. It's like ... I guess it's like people eating government cheese. I've never had it, and maybe it's great, but when you can afford to buy cheese, you don't eat a lot of (any) government cheese. And since I can afford steak and beef and chicken and shrimp and fish and pretty much whatever, I don't eat Spam. Maybe I'm missing out. Maybe Spam and Government Cheese Sandwiches are the greatest thing since ... something great.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that on the way home I drive past the Hormel Meat Processing Plant, which smells like dog food -- which is actually a pretty bad insult, considering the fact that I also routinely drive past the Purina Dog Food Processing Plant, which smells better than the Hormel plant.

pinback wrote:The secret to SPAM is to cook it long enough. Let's face it, raw SPAM is about as appetizing as a spoonful of Crisco. If you fry it in a pan for a little while, that nauseating slimy greasiness and flabby taste tends to go away. Leave it in a bit longer, until it really starts to brown and crisp up, and it magically turns into a MEAT-LIKE EXPLOSION OF DELICIOUS FLAVORS!!!!!!!!

That is the secret of SPAM.

Do you eat it straight up after frying? I've had it with mango sauce a number of times, tried ketchup, and would even shove it into a fried egg sandwich but am curious if you go through any extra steps to prepare it?

The secret to SPAM is to cook it long enough. Let's face it, raw SPAM is about as appetizing as a spoonful of Crisco. If you fry it in a pan for a little while, that nauseating slimy greasiness and flabby taste tends to go away. Leave it in a bit longer, until it really starts to brown and crisp up, and it magically turns into a MEAT-LIKE EXPLOSION OF DELICIOUS FLAVORS!!!!!!!!

That is the secret of SPAM.

RetroRomper wrote:

pinback wrote:Mmm!

I SEE WHAT YOU FUCKING DID HERE YOU SMUG FUCKING REPROBATE.

pinback wrote:Mmm!

Hawaiian cooking at its finest...

Its one of those odd things: whenever I've spent time in Hawaii, my family always fries up spam at least once a week. I've had spam sushi at a fairly nice restaurant and at my cousins fiftieth wedding anniversary, one of the courses were spam kabobs... And this was at the Hilton.

What is even more interesting, is the intermixing of more traditional Chinese and American fare: my grandparents would create these wonky pine apple dishes that incorporated food you'd normally see at a 99 Ranch market. Really, really good though... God I miss the islands.

Mmmm!