Adventures in cheap packaged foods: Spam

So far, this series has featured canned meats I had never tried before. Now I’m shifting focus to products I’ve had in the distant past. Some were served by my mother. Some I tried on my own. I used to love some of them and others tasted nasty. What would I think of them now that my tastes have matured, and after my tastebuds had been destroyed by throat cancer treatments and regenerated? I’m on a mission to find out.

No one ever said it was health food

First up, famous/infamous Spam. The lasting legacy of World War II. Still popular enough to fill supermarket and convenience store shelves. In a variety of flavors. Someone is eating this much-maligned stuff.

In all its naked glory

Luckily, the market offered half-size cans of Spam Classic. So I’d be throwing away less, if it came to that.

I took a taste and… nothing gross, just a lot of salt. Spam is short for spiced ham, and the number one spice is salt. Mountains of salt. Otherwise, it tastes a lot like bologna or hot dogs.

Spam is already fully cooked, so it can be eaten cold or heated. I fried up mine with potatoes. Given the amount of salt in Spam I didn’t salt the spuds. I could’ve gotten fancier, adding onions, peppers, cheese or whatever, but I wanted a more pure Spam experience. So just a little black pepper.

It was merely okay, which I suppose is a lot better than I had feared. I may never buy Spam again because there are better choices. But it’s no longer on my uninformed, knee-jerk, I’d Rather Starve list.