Food History: SPAM

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  • Опубліковано 5 січ 2023
  • SPAM sushi and Korean "army base stew" are maybe not the first dishes to pop into your head when you hear the mysterious acronym "SPAM." But people have a way of turning lemons into lemonade, and there's no better example of that then the sealed mystery meat phenomenon.
    Food History is a show all about... well, the history of food. Join host Justin Dodd as he brings you the stories of how your favorite meals ended up on your plate. Today, we're talking SPAM. What does SPAM stand for anyway?
    Website: www.mentalfloss.com​
    Twitter: / mental_floss​
    Facebook: / mentalflossmagazine

КОМЕНТАРІ • 106

  • @katherinelynch4193
    @katherinelynch4193 Рік тому +20

    My favorite fact about SPAM is that their parent company, Hormel Foods, once sued Henson Productions for defaming their brand with the evil boar Spa-am in Muppet Treasure Island.

    • @NeonVisual
      @NeonVisual Рік тому +3

      This sounds like spam to me.

    • @jphilb
      @jphilb Рік тому +1

      Awesome movie!

    • @6thwilbury2331
      @6thwilbury2331 Рік тому +1

      @@NeonVisual This comment deserves more love. 😀

    • @kevindivine2869
      @kevindivine2869 Рік тому

      They also sued ...somebody, don't remember who... to stop the use of "spam" to refer to junk e-mail. It was brand trademark defense. Even if they lose, [which I think they did in the Muppet case and I know they did in the e-mail case] they show that they will defend their trademark and/or patent rights. If you don't sue, some other company could use the name for their own version of the actual meat product and the courts might use their disinterest in policing non-meat uses as a reason to rule in the other company's favor. It's part of the joke behind "McDowell's" in the movie "Coming to America," in which they riff on the fact that McDonald's will aggressively lawsuit other uses of the name McDonald's.

  • @Ericaodd
    @Ericaodd Рік тому +17

    Lots of great recipes for it!
    Egg and Spam
    Egg, bacon, and Spam
    Egg, bacon, sausage, and Spam
    Spam, bacon, sausage, and Spam
    Spam, egg, Spam, Spam, bacon, and Spam
    Spam, Spam, Spam, egg, and Spam
    Spam, sausage, Spam, Spam, Spam, bacon, Spam, tomato, and Spam
    Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, baked beans, Spam, Spam, Spam, and Spam
    Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, garnished with truffle pâté, brandy, and a fried egg on top, and Spam.

    • @jimgsewell
      @jimgsewell Рік тому +3

      🎵Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam! 🎶🎵

    • @Freddles279
      @Freddles279 Рік тому +2

      I DON'T LIKE SPAM!!!

    • @jimgsewell
      @jimgsewell Рік тому +1

      @@Freddles279 Have the Spam, bacon, sausage, and Spam. There isn't much Spam in that.

    • @therexbellator
      @therexbellator Рік тому +1

      @@Freddles279 Don't make a fuss dear, I'll have your SPAM. I luv'it, I'm having SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM baked beans SPAM SPAM SPAM and SPAM

    • @mercatorpsi
      @mercatorpsi Рік тому +1

      @@therexbellator Baked beans are off.

  • @y_fam_goeglyd
    @y_fam_goeglyd Рік тому +11

    On seeing the thumbnail I was transported back to watching Monty Python's spam sketch/song (and the 70s when it was a fairly regular thing to eat because of the convenience). Python was the best thing about spam.

    • @KebaRPG
      @KebaRPG Рік тому

      Would you like some Tart with not so much Rat instead? A call back to the Spam Sketch in one of their movies replacing SPAM with Rat.

  • @kimberlypatton9634
    @kimberlypatton9634 Рік тому +3

    As a Southern child,I grew up eating and loving Spam! Regular Spam,not any of the weird flavors out now.Fried with a golden crust with a breakfast of eggs & grits ,or plain out of the can,sliced on a sandwich with yellow mustard.It is wonderful! We also ate scads of scrapple,potted meat/mustard sandwiches and canned corned beef as well. it is delicious made into hors- hor d' ouvres with olives,pickle,pineapple pcs etc on toothpicks.I was born in 1960 and I still remember opening the can using the "key" stuck onto the top of the can with a dollop of sticky stuff,and you place the tab on the can into the slot on the key and used it to them twist off the thin strip of metal around the can to release the top off near the top.This was kind of scary and dangerous - that strip could cut you ud you weren't careful,and sometimes that coil of metal would come off the key at any given place and I would just go get my dad's needle nose to finish opening it.! It isn't that hard these days thank goodness!

  • @Isaac-gh5ku
    @Isaac-gh5ku Рік тому +4

    In Malaysia, we have something called luncheon meat. That made me wonder if that is what SPAM is called in our country or it's another variation of SPAM since the SPAM meat from the US look similar to our local luncheon meat.
    Local canned luncheon meat is not only square shape, but there's also round shape canned luncheon meat.

    • @HayTatsuko
      @HayTatsuko Рік тому +3

      Here in the US, "luncheon meat" is a generic name for SPAM-like products. Their quality and ingredients can vary widely. My grandfather swore by a competing product, Treet, but I think that stuff tastes like recently-unshod feet smell.. I imagine if you had SPAM there, it would be branded as such. -- unless there were some other product already using that name as a trademark.

  • @alexhurst3986
    @alexhurst3986 Рік тому +5

    My mom grew up in WWII England. For years the only meat she got was Spam. All the fresh meat, and fresh food in general, went to the military. She freaking LOVES Spam, so do I.

    • @virginiagrundman4012
      @virginiagrundman4012 Рік тому

      My Austrian mom never allowed it in her kitchen. My American dad agreed.

  • @lear1980
    @lear1980 Рік тому +4

    I just mentioned to my wife last night that we hadn't had Spam for a long time.
    Maybe we'll have Lobster Thermidor aux Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam, although I'm not sure about the egg.
    All credit to Micheal Palin and the late, great Terry Jones.

  • @mizusenshi8172
    @mizusenshi8172 Рік тому +3

    I knew about SPAM being popular in Hawaii but not in Korea! You learn something every day I guess.
    Apparently you can eat SPAM with eggs for breakfast. I learned that from listening to old episodes of some radio show (Burns and Allen I think) that was sponsored by SPAM.

  • @grahamrankin4725
    @grahamrankin4725 Рік тому +5

    In the 50s, my mother would bake spam like she did canned ham: stuck with whole cloves. Occasionally she would slice and fry it as a sub for bacon.

  • @stevebowden1966
    @stevebowden1966 Рік тому +1

    I smoke Spam on a Big Green Egg. It started on a whim as I was smoking ribs, chicken and sausage for a work lunch. I happened to grab a can of low sodium Spam and I rubbed my house made rub and put it in the fridge over night. The next day I tossed it on with the ribs, et al. It cooked quicker than the rest and in about 3-4 hours I felt I needed to take it off. I left it on the counter to rest. As I went to continue with the rest of the meat i was smoking. After a bit, I decided to give it a try, It was amazing, truly a Eureka moment. I brought the rest with the BBQ I was bringing to the office. About 8-10 of my work/lunch buddies gathered for a BBQ feast. To a man they were offered the Spam and nobody wanted any. I was able to persuade one or two to try it and they were aghast at how wonderful it was. Pretty soon, everyone was trying it and everyone was shocked at how good it was. Even my wife who hated the idea of Spam with her very being tried it and was amazed at how good it was. I now how a specialty sandwich, smoked Spam with BBQ Sauce, a small scoop of cole slaw and pickles on a potato roll. It is an amazing sandwich.

  • @Darxide23
    @Darxide23 Рік тому +5

    The best part of Spam was the free jelly that came with it. Now they took that way, what's the point?

    • @HayTatsuko
      @HayTatsuko Рік тому +1

      That jelly is called aspic (even though this is not a particularly fancy sort)
      and I miss it, too.

  • @1973Washu
    @1973Washu Рік тому +2

    I will have the Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, garnished with truffle pâté, brandy, and a fried egg on top, and Spam.

  • @old-moose
    @old-moose Рік тому +3

    Growing up, my favorite soup was potato soup with diced Spam. I lived on a Montana cattle ranch at the time but preferred Spam over any other kind of meat. I think that was when my parents decided that I had hit my head once too often, or not often enough. ;-) I still love Spam 75 years later.

  • @koreanelvis
    @koreanelvis Рік тому +2

    As a Korean, born and raised in Hawai’i, my favorite is kimchi fried rice; can’t have it without the SPAM!!!

  • @erikrick
    @erikrick Рік тому +4

    There is an Okinawan dish called Goya Champuru that is often made with Spam. Super easy to make and DE-licious

    • @hbanana7
      @hbanana7 Рік тому

      I love that dish! One of my summer favorites!

  • @hbanana7
    @hbanana7 Рік тому +2

    Upon seeing the topic, I knew that Budae Jjigae and Spam Musubi would make an appearance.

  • @rachelarmstrong9856
    @rachelarmstrong9856 Рік тому +2

    In Australia around the 70’s as kids I ate SPAM. I hated the jelly remember eating it a fair bit and there was other dearer canned meats. However in outback Australia I ate a LOT of canned foods and powered milk. Being at least 1000km away from a major city back then there wasn’t much fresh food. Dad did grow what he could and we had chickens. Love fresh food and the technology we have now.

  • @morgangallowglass8668
    @morgangallowglass8668 Рік тому +2

    Spam does not have a shelf life, it has a half-life! Love me some SPAM!

  • @peggywoods4327
    @peggywoods4327 Рік тому

    I was inspired one winter when I had some Hawaiian neighbors to try my hand at making musubi. I did some research and some shopping. I got thumbs up all around, even though I had never been to Hawaii or tasted musubi. I used the teriyaki SPAM. It was nice to know that I could get a taste of Hawaii even deep in the Rockies.

  • @Discopuss
    @Discopuss Рік тому

    LOL I've lived in SKorea and Guam where spam is quite popular. I've never eaten the stuff myself, but can confirm it's great as chum if you want to snorkel with tropical fish on a coral reef.

  • @3morecats
    @3morecats Рік тому

    I wonder if it might have been inspired by "head cheese", made in Italy from pig's head and assorted scraps, then chilled in a cheese mold. Lots of gelatin, delicious. My memories of Spam: camping with family, in the 1960s, with a leaky canvas tent, mosquitoes and Kraft mac and cheese with Spam for dinner.

  • @johnstevenson9956
    @johnstevenson9956 Рік тому

    Immortalized forever by the Weird Al tune. Hey, I love the stuff. I don't very much miss the key though.

  • @juneyshu6197
    @juneyshu6197 Рік тому +1

    I need that wallpaper! Nice report.

  • @Lacider
    @Lacider Рік тому +2

    Spam wellington... Oddly enough its quite tasty.

  • @Grandpa82547
    @Grandpa82547 Рік тому

    I used to like Spam. I ate thousands of Spam sandwiches. I recently bought a can of Spam and found it to be less tasty and more greasy. Bring back the old stuff!

  • @tonyfourpaws4511
    @tonyfourpaws4511 Рік тому

    Only watching this now because I'm making a SPAM stir fry with cabbage, zucchini, green onions and bacon. a bit of soy sauce and red pepper chili flakes. I love SPAM. If I have anything left over, I'll make breakfast with it by tossing in some scrambled eggs and serving it with Basmati rice with a side of garlic Naan.

  • @Charonicus
    @Charonicus Рік тому +1

    Over here in the UK, I like to grill my spam and have it in a sandwich with some mustard. Yum yum. :)

  • @6thwilbury2331
    @6thwilbury2331 Рік тому

    Interesting video. I have a love-hate relationship with SPAM. I mostly don't like it, and went years without it, but sort of got into it in the form of spam loco moco at the nearby Hawaiian BBQ place.
    I wonder if it's bigger to Asian palates? My grandparents loved it, and had it all the time. I recall my dad having it from time to time, but SPAM disappeared from my household when my mom went on a general anti-sodium nitrate thing in the 1980s. (We were the only kids in school whose sandwiches didn't have the typical processed Hormel/Oscar Mayer lunch meats, for that matter.)

  • @latenighter1965
    @latenighter1965 Рік тому +1

    I like Spam, unlike Monty Python. But spam is only 1 of 3 things that survived the world ice caps melting and was eaten by the water world people in the future.

  • @jimgsewell
    @jimgsewell Рік тому +7

    Spam used to be the perfect Saturday night dinner. You got your meat and your gelatin dessert. The key worked double-time as a roach clip, and the empty can could be used as an ashtray. What more could a poor fellow ask for?

  • @lp-xl9ld
    @lp-xl9ld Рік тому

    My father was in the army during WWII and while he mentioned some of the less desirable things he had to eat, he never, near as I can recall, mentioned spam. As for me personally, I've never knowingly eaten it.

  • @mmlee2213
    @mmlee2213 Рік тому +2

    Fun fact: you would probably need at least five cans of spam to trace the US-Mexico border!

  • @juneyshu6197
    @juneyshu6197 Рік тому +1

    Great for my lo carb diet.

  • @user-pk8bb6lf9b
    @user-pk8bb6lf9b Рік тому +6

    Fun fact: families who eat one can of spam per week, eat one can of spam per week more than families who don't.

    • @MentalFloss
      @MentalFloss  Рік тому +2

      Will check the #s on this and report back.

  • @johnberry1107
    @johnberry1107 9 місяців тому

    I thought about faux shrimp dish entry into county fair but didn’t.

  • @thaflash991
    @thaflash991 Рік тому +1

    Always thought it meant spare ham

  • @wondercub
    @wondercub Рік тому +2

    A cousin to liver mush a southern delicacy. Would you ever do a video on liver mush?

    • @CreachterZ
      @CreachterZ Рік тому +1

      Only because they are processed meats.

    • @MentalFloss
      @MentalFloss  Рік тому +3

      Ha, yes, absolutely! I just learned about it like 2 days ago for a video we're making covering regional foods-should be out in a month or 2!

  • @MaddhatterAce
    @MaddhatterAce Рік тому +1

    So it's not Salted Pork Austin Minnesota

  • @MsCDWeasel
    @MsCDWeasel Рік тому +2

    SPAM = Squirrels Possum And Mice

  • @DeaconTaylor
    @DeaconTaylor Рік тому +1

    it is sold here in australia but i dont think i've ever had any. it doesnt have that high reputation.
    also, do you think the word is said more often in this video than the monty python sketch? probably not, but it cant be far behind.

  • @staubach1979rt
    @staubach1979rt Рік тому

    On a side note: If you fly out of or within the U.S. with Spam in your luggage, it is very likely to be checked by T.S.A. screeners. Not confiscated, just looked at. This goes for all canned meats.

  • @Apophis324
    @Apophis324 Рік тому

    Thank you Justin for putting the idea of SPAM lemonade in my head.. Yuck > -

  • @NeonVisual
    @NeonVisual Рік тому +2

    Spam is only good with eggs, beans and spam.

    • @jimgsewell
      @jimgsewell Рік тому +2

      Spam, Spam, egg, Spam, and beans is pretty good too! 😁

    • @NeonVisual
      @NeonVisual Рік тому

      @@jimgsewell Spam spam and spam

  • @MrDaAsif
    @MrDaAsif Рік тому

    I'm a white American that has had Army Base Stew, it's honestly really good

  • @firstcynic92
    @firstcynic92 Рік тому +3

    My favorite spam recipe is what I call beer-spam.
    Throw the spam in the garbage, then have a beer.

  • @TheOfficialTarynTots
    @TheOfficialTarynTots Рік тому +3

    Spam is something I eat only when I'm out of food and I can't make it to the store or if I want something really salty. For me, it's alright as long as you don't eat it often. I eat it maybe once a year.

  • @HayTatsuko
    @HayTatsuko Рік тому

    Fried SPAM is of the deities, and the stuff ain't half-bad right out of the can and sliced up for a quick SPAM-and-cheese sammich.

  • @adolphsanchez1429
    @adolphsanchez1429 Рік тому

    My disabled and elderly parent's favorite foods: Bacon cheeseburgers from Wendy's or BK, hot dogs with mild chili, onions, and/or slaw, KFC chicken, candy/chocolate/ice cream, certain pizzas, and SPAM/Treat (which disgusts me).

    • @kuntamdc
      @kuntamdc Рік тому

      Spam is delicious lol

  • @Soljarag5
    @Soljarag5 Рік тому +1

    I love spam.... Fry it up and eat it

  • @009sco
    @009sco 19 днів тому

    as a pennsylvanian scrapple and spam aren't that similar other than that it's made of pig scraps

  • @cumobama1398
    @cumobama1398 Рік тому +1

    You mention scrapple but not Pork Roll? The Audacity!

    • @MentalFloss
      @MentalFloss  Рік тому

      We have a pork roll (or is that Taylor ham) section coming up in a video soon!

  • @therongjr
    @therongjr Рік тому

    I absolutely abhor this video for making me crave a horrible food that I have not eaten in about three decades! 🤣

  • @kuntamdc
    @kuntamdc Рік тому

    Spam wasubi!

  • @Freddles279
    @Freddles279 Рік тому +2

    Stuff Posing As Meat

  • @ibn210ibn210
    @ibn210ibn210 Рік тому +1

    Spare
    Parts
    And
    Meat

  • @TetraSky
    @TetraSky Рік тому

    and today we call something undesirable, spam.

  • @kanedaku
    @kanedaku Рік тому

    I resist the urge to *SPAM* this video

    • @jannetteberends8730
      @jannetteberends8730 Рік тому

      Spam, spam, spam, spam, 🎶
      Yes he missed that. Perhaps didn’t realize it was the same stuff.

  • @kamakuakane
    @kamakuakane Рік тому

    Deep Fried Spam Musubi

  • @MagdaleneDivine
    @MagdaleneDivine Рік тому

    I'll never forget that time this talking head wore the dumbest mustard and ketchup matching type sweaters to match with the history of ketchup and mustard episode and I had a fit of anaphylactic proportion

  • @Emily-the_funny_guys
    @Emily-the_funny_guys Рік тому

    I've never tried spamand have no desire to. It just seems so wrong, ham in a can.

  • @009sco
    @009sco 19 днів тому

    gochuJAAANG long a like sauna

  • @AllanAdamson
    @AllanAdamson Рік тому

    I can't discount the smell in Austin.. it's the smell Agent Smith talks about in The Matrix.. it reeks throughout the city

    • @kevindivine2869
      @kevindivine2869 Рік тому

      Only downwind of the prevailing winds on the east side of town. The smell in the Crane Addition section over in the triangle between the plant, I-90, and East Side Lake could make me feel like I was going to barf, but we lived on the west side past the high school/St. Augustine's Church and it wasn't so bad. Once one crossed the freeway on Oakland Avenue and started heading west out of town towards Oakland and the Par-3, one would encounter hog farms that were their own version of smell-hell-- it was a very close run between hog farm and fresh skunk roadkill.

    • @AllanAdamson
      @AllanAdamson Рік тому

      @@kevindivine2869 not true, if you're from town & live there you probably just don't notice on the other sides of town because the smell is not as strong, but it's there

    • @AllanAdamson
      @AllanAdamson Рік тому

      @@kevindivine2869 Austin is the first instance of Legionaries disease

    • @AllanAdamson
      @AllanAdamson Рік тому

      @@kevindivine2869 Hormel has also faced lawsuits for brain cancer & other issues which they deny is caused by what their plant releases & of course they built a cancer research facility to bolster their defense

  • @reppepper
    @reppepper Рік тому

    What? No Monty Python?

    • @jannetteberends8730
      @jannetteberends8730 Рік тому

      Yes he totally missed that, didn’t he. This video belongs in the spam folder 😂

  • @gordybishop2375
    @gordybishop2375 Рік тому

    Shimmy? It's just pork

  • @jannetteberends8730
    @jannetteberends8730 Рік тому +3

    I like spam to be in my SPAM folder.
    Wikipedia:
    The term spam is derived from the 1970 "Spam" sketch of the BBC sketch comedy television series Monty Python's Flying Circus. The sketch, set in a cafe, has a waitress reading out a menu where every item but one includes the Spam canned luncheon meat. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!"

  • @graphosxp
    @graphosxp Рік тому

    🐷🍍🍞🤤

  • @REzado63
    @REzado63 Рік тому

    Stuff posing as meat

  • @gozerthegozarian9500
    @gozerthegozarian9500 Рік тому

    SPAM is clearly an acronym: Scraps Posing As Meat

  • @Hathur
    @Hathur Рік тому +27

    Ahem. Much as I like to lambast America for it's imperialist behavior, South Korea is NOT one of the countries it occupied. South Korea is an ally of the US, they made a mutual defense pact - it is NOT an occupier of S. Korea, it is an ALLIANCE and the US exists there at S. Korea's permission / request.

    • @quovo4
      @quovo4 Рік тому +8

      The US occupied South Korea after WWII. The administrative government was the US military for years before setting up a local government.

    • @kimandre336
      @kimandre336 Рік тому +2

      @@quovo4 Today's South Korea was literally founded by Koreans who collaborated with the Japanese Empire during WWII under the patronage of the US government.
      Imagine the US government founded a country in Continental Europe after WWII with former Nazi collaborators..... This is essentially South Korea, but apply it to East Asia instead.
      Living in South Korea for 7 years as a Canadian born person, I noticed that South Korea still lingers to far right social values that match with an ideal 19th century Prussian society.
      I have to say. The US government really loves secular or Christian-ized Asian countries like South Korea that treat their citizens like soldiers instead of tax-payers.

    • @OneBentMonkey
      @OneBentMonkey Рік тому +1

      @@kimandre336 Last paragraph: See also the Philippines by a near identical SOP

    • @trumpone4443
      @trumpone4443 Рік тому

      Is there money involved other Barry? Yes there is ....yes there is/was

  • @lohphat
    @lohphat Рік тому

    SPAM musubi is NOT sushi.
    The word “sushi” means”sour” and refers to specifically seasoned rice to hold raw fish and other fresh toppings. Musubi is instead made with plain rice. Not all Japanese rice dishes are sushi.