Jerms of Endearment

Gender:

I did the groceries last night on the way home from work, and since it was me doing it, I always pick up a couple of things which aren't on the list, but that I find a good "treat" to have. One was a can of spam (not Spam brand, but it was called Holliday brand or something like that - same stuff). I remember when I was younger, my Mom used to cut up the spam into 1" slices and then pan fry them and then wrap a piece of bread around them and then that was lunch. I've since had that and it's tasty - much better than eating corned beef, in my opinion...

Anyhow, my wife was surprised that I bought the stuff and she doesn't eat it in any fashion. In the past, when I mentioned my family spam sandwich tradition, she said that it must be a Chinese thing since she has seen it at some of the Chinese food courts. Now that I think about it, I tend to agree with her, since I haven't seen any non-Asians pan fry it and sandwich it. Surely, there must be an audience for this, since it's on the shelves everywhere, but I can't imagine it's all Asians buying this stuff (though I am told that Asians do tend to buy certain things like Horlicks and Ovaltine, both of which I buy).

Anyone here eat spam sandwiches, and in particular, the fried spam sandwiches? I can't imagine eating spam any other way, since the taste of the fat without it being fried up/fried off, would just gross me out. It tastes AMAZING fried. I may actually try BBQing it sometime.

P.S. I will stand up and say right here and now that I don't find what the big fuss is about spam - I am a proud spam eater. But so many people I know (mostly Caucasians/Blacks) do not like spam - I don't know why - perhaps they haven't fried it yet. Maybe it's the mass media perpetuating spam myths. I find nothing wrong with the stuff.

Krazy

Gender:

There are 3 things in this world I will not eat:
3. Pork rinds
2. Mayonnaise
1. Spam

Can I ask you why you like Spam so much? Its basically a fat, salty, pink blob.

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Jerms of Endearment

Gender:

I should clarify - it's more of a treat, so I don't eat it often. But when I do, it's great.

Have you tried frying it? It makes a huge difference in the taste. Otherwise, I totally agree with you. Fry some slices and then come back to me and let me know your opinion.

Fat, salty blob...true, but surely if you have ever made an apple crust from scratch, you would have seen the enormous amount of lard, butter, salt, and such that go into it - that probably has just as negligible nutritional value as spam (which at least has some protein).

Agree with you on pork rinds, and absolutely agree with you on mayonnaise.

Try frying a slice of spam - your opinion of it will be different.

Millions of Asians can't be wrong!

(ok, I just made that up ).

msohaiku

Gender:

I really like this topic.....been waiting for a thread like this.

My Mom used to fry spam when I was little, but we didn't wrap bread around it, we just cut it up and ate it. And I vaguely remember it wasn't my favorite.

I have heard that asians in Hawai'i are crazy about spam.....something about more of it is shipped to HI than any other place.

We used to eat potted meat.....the ham variety....I liked it as a kid, but not now.

What about fried bologna sandwich.....every tried that? We used to eat those alot as a kid. I will still have one every blue moon.

Another southern favorite of mine is a banana sandwich......two slices of bread, mayo, and banana slices. The acidity in the mayo and the sweet of the banana is a great combo. I have these quite often.

Yet another southern favorite is pinto beans(cooked with hamhock, of course) and corn bread. The beans are smashed up and the cornbread is crumbled on top....add sugar and a little bean broth and mix it all together....Yum,yum! I don't have this one very often because it is so time consuming.

Then there is milk and cornbread......glass of milk with cornbread crumbled up and dropped into the milk......eat with a spoon and enjoy!

And I can't forget creamed (or fried) corn with fresh garden tomato slices and cornbread. I don't mix, some people do. I take a bite from each one and then start over.

So how do my southern favorites appeal to you?

Krazy

Gender:

...mmm I'll just settle for a nice fat steak.

Jerms of Endearment

Gender:

Glad you like the thread topic. I really try to think of interesting, positive, humourous, topics to post, based on my experiences.

Wow, you and I are a lot more alike than I thought, and I don't mean about our minivan discussion...I too eat bologna sandwiches, much to my wife's chagrin (she is a health-nut, so spam and bologna is a no-no). I have a photo here somewhere of a "triple decker" bologna sandwich I made last year, which was something along the lines of (from the bottom up):

Whole wheat bread slice
2 slices of pan fried bologna
layer of scrambled egg (in a sheet form)
1 slice of pan fried bologna
Whole wheat bread slice
1 slice of pan fried bologna
layer of scrambled egg (in a sheet form)
2 slices of pan fried bologna
Whole wheat bread slice

You haven't really lived until you eat the above concoction. It is SOOO good...I'll post a photo of it when I find it...

Some of your southern recipes. Interesting...the corn bread and milk. Can't say I've tried it, but it sounds interesting. The banana sandwich sounds interesting, though for me, I'd take out the mayo.

Why's cornbread so popular among the South? May as well ask about fried chicken and the collared greens thing (I truly do not know - seems like there's a perceptions that Black folks from the South really like this stuff, as well as catfish. I went to a friend's Dad's funeral (she is Black, but the family was originally from Jamaica or Trinidad), and it was mostly Black people there and at the receiption, there was cornbread everywhere! It is at that point that I knew it was more than a stereotype. I've had cornbread here, but not sure what the attraction is (I'm sure there are those out there who think that of spam).

Some other Chinese meals made with standard grocery store items:

Breakfast - macaroni in chicken broth (this is popular in Hong Kong, though I fail to understand why)

Breakfast - buttered white bread with a thick glob of condensed milk spread on the bread). Used to have this as a child before I got severely sick of it.

BNZ

Gender:

You can't be a Flip and NOT like chicharon.

Lovelyday

Gender:

I'm with you with the spam and mayo but, I'm for the pork rinds, skins, cracklings, chicharon or whatever other name is used for them. I remember growing there use to be a food stand that fried them on the spot and you chose what seasoning you wanted.
Jeremy, when you mentioned the fried spam it I thought about fried bologna sandwiches. Hadn't had that in awhile.

msohaiku

Gender:

I don't really know why cornbread is so popular in the south. I'll have to do some research. The other foods you mention...collard greens, fried chicken, catfish, and a few others like pigs feet, chitterlings, brains, tongue, liver, and polk salad aren't just a southern and/or black thing, it's more of a peasant thing. When you are poor you eat as much of the animal as possible, and polk salad could be gathered from the side of the road. So you do what you can to keep food on the table. My mother grew up poor in the rural south and ate foods like these. I've met Chinese before that eat some of these things like chitterlings (pig intestines), and it is even served in chinese restaurants here. My husband loves chitterlings, or chittlins, as they are pronounced. He covers them up with tabasco sauce though.....hmmmm, maybe he's trying to cover up the real taste and smell.
I tried them once and to me they taste and smell just like what they are....intestines which process waste from the body. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

The two breakfast items you mentioned above sound interesting, I just might try them. I'll let you know.

Jerms of Endearment

Gender:

Hee hee...Msohaiku just mentioned it too, which conjures up fond memories. If I may use a term which is in today's youths' nomenclature...

BOLOGNA SANDWICHES ARE DA BOMB!!!

I can't believe I just said that...