SPAM Lite
We can talk about internet SPAM horror stories and how the new Canadian
legislation (July 1, 2014) may affect future business. While some regard this as
a serious threat, some see it as a tempest in a spam can, and others, using their
sense of humour and hamming it up a bit, appreciate the wider significance of
the role of SPAM as a travel-related culinary niche market. OK, Lighten up!
I’m talking about this…
Of course I am referring to the product that was
developed by Hormel Foods Corporation* in
1937. The name of the product is said to be an
acronym for “spiced ham”. In 2007 it reportedly
sold its 7 billionth can of meat and sales have
been steadily increasing since that time. Possibly
the most famous marketing boost the product
received was in the 1970’s when the comedy
troupe Monty Python introduced their “spam
skit” which featured a restaurant that served
every dish, from bacon and eggs to Lobster
Thermidor, with SPAM. This was followed up by
Eric Idle’s 2005 musical “Spamalot”, where Idle
explained “I like the title Spamalot a lot. It comes
from a line in the movie which goes: "we eat
ham, and jam and SPAM a lot."**
Laugh all you want, but SPAM is an international
food sensation. My one and only encounter with
the product was on an adventure tour in
Morocco in 1996, where we camped in tents
every night and cooked food for the group. As
this was a budget tour, SPAM figured high on the
menu as far as the provision of meat was
concerned. And you know, if you mix it with
vegetables and sauces and fry it up, it tastes
pretty good. However we also had many
opportunities to try the local cuisine and as much
as we loved SPAM, we tended to lean more
toward kebabs, couscous, harira, mechoui and
tanjines. There’s no accounting for taste, right?
SPAM is available in 41 countries and many have
adapted the dish to their own cuisine. This may
be comforting news to those travellers who
prefer to stay away from local dishes for their
own reasons. I’ve met many travellers along the
way whose choice of destination depends on the
availability of western food and associated
western fast food establishments. This is their
comfort food level. And there is nothing wrong
with this, as long as the client sees value in travel
and has melded their food preferences into their
travel style. Who are we to judge?
However based on this culinary truism, one
could take the attitude that SPAM served
Mexican style with huevos rancheros (the forma