Meat factories and churches together with aged-care homes are now producing many clusters of Covid-19. At the beginning of the virus in March or so there was an outbreak of shoppers converging on rolls of toilet paper at supermarkets. It even came to fights over toilet paper. Scuffles broke out, and security guards were called in to stem toilet paper riots and they quickly restored order. Guns in holsters have an amazing calming effect amongst law abiding shoppers. It is with glee that I read that no one was allowed to return hoarded toilet paper, not even a single roll. Some formed gangs that would go around buying up as much toilet paper as possible. They were hoping to corner the market and make a killing. There must be many a home bulging to the rafters with toilet paper!
While I still don’t understand the love of toilet paper during a crisis, unless some are privy to using it to fill or firm up stews or a pasta sauce, I was busy stocking up some food. I bought noodles, rice and flour reckoning they could keep me in reasonable health during a prolonged lock-down. However I also was delighted still to remember in my increasingly misty mind-storage bin our past relationship with the much revered corned Salted Pork and hAM cans. I believe that the word of that product SPAM came from that abbreviation of mix of food.
The history of that product is legendary. Even Nikita Khrushchev declared that his soldiers would never haven gotten though the war without SPAM. It was a good source of food. The air-raids above Holland towards the end of WW2 by the British delivered tons of that delicious Spam, hence the name ‘Spam raids.’ I can still see my dad running on a field towards the dropped food cans. He did not score Spam but instead a large tin of very hard but nutritious biscuits that one soaked in warm water, Gee, what a treat they were too. I still shudder when I see modern kids throwing half their food and drinks away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)
While I did not end up buying Spam and instead chose the Corned beef variety it still has that gelatinous feel and look about it. A kind of fond war memory, seeing it saved thousands of people from starvation. The little key on the side is still there and what happy memories well up while turning that little key to unlock and deliver that lovely mushy characteristic odorous meaty mixture from its steel container.
So, today, being a very rainy Sunday and with the news endlessly about the Virus I thought up a nice Spam sandwich. I embellished the corned mushy mixture after slowly, ever so slowly turning the key to get the full entertainment out of this long revered and longed for food by adding some rocket, lettuce, onion, and tomato to it. I then topped in with some Havarti cheese.
What a beautiful sandwich it turned out to be. It made this gloomy Sunday turn into a feast to behold.
Come, join me and try it out.
Tags: British, Corned Beef, Covid-19, Havarti, Holland, Krushchev, Nikita, Spam, Sunday, World war 2
Oosterman Treats Blog 
July 26, 2020 at 6:05 am |
Gerard!…I would think it is a matter of concern that when I looked at your sandwich, I could see that the ingredients, PARTICULARLY the Spam, was not distributed evenly to the very edge of the crusts!…How anyone can endure such sandwiches is beyond me…with other spreads such as vegemite or peanut paste (YES! : “Paste”..not “butter”..) the same action applies..you spread any spreadables right to the edge..perhaps in a favourable situation even finishing off with a chamfer around the border of the bread slice.. .THEN and only then it becomes “filling” otherwise it is little other than a Spam/salad WITH side serving of bread!…hruumph!
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July 26, 2020 at 6:07 am |
I went back to look and I see the butter too is “short-sheeted”!!!
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July 26, 2020 at 7:16 am
I did not want to dilute the spam too much, Jo. It has to be delicately balanced. Don’t forget Spam itself too is well supplied by the lubricating ingredients.
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July 26, 2020 at 7:15 am |
I got overexcited, Jo, and even though I made the sandwich with as much patience I could muster, alas, I rushed and put it together so quickly. Still, like a good painting or a good book, it is often better underdone than laboured.
I thought the photo shows up its almost immediate attraction, with the Spam coyly hiding under the verdant rocket leaves, spinach and lettuce, tomato.
Please note: I used the beginning of a new loaf of multi seed bread! I am sorry to have observed it often been thrown out by the over fed and undernourished gregarious flock of new-age wasters.
I am still having the feeling and taste of it, after ALMOST 3 HOURS.
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July 26, 2020 at 6:29 am |
I could eat the salad with a slice of cheese and a bit of bread. I do not need any kind of spread, especially not a Spam spread! No, Spam is definitely not for me. But the salad is nice! 🙂
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July 26, 2020 at 7:26 am |
Spam is delicious, Uta. I know it is loaded with salt and fat, but at my age I am throwing caution to the wind for a day or so, Especially when it happens to be one of those endlessly lasting and boring Sundays with copious rain to boot.
After I opened the can, so many worms of memory came spilling out. It was all too much and I dove straight in its deliciously smooth contents and made the sandwich on a flash of clear insight and fervent inspiration.
https://www.foodbeast.com/news/10-facts-about-spam-that-you-might-not-have-known/
It was a spontaneous moment of truth and almost like a reconciling with the past and WW2 with its glorious saviour, the Spam droppings by the British. It saved thousands from hunger.
Of course, I am not going to get addicted to Spam. Tomorrow it will be back to pink salmon, greens with lots of split peas and fruit.
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July 26, 2020 at 8:09 am |
Well, I think it looks like a delicious SPAMwich-sandwich, Gerard! I’m so glad it brightened your day! But, I’m sure it is all gone by now. Ha! 😉
We ate SPAM growing up in The Dark Ages. I guess with my parents having 8 kids the SPAM might have been a cheaper choice than the other meats. ???
But, I’ll admit, I haven’t had any in many many many years. I hear there all kinds of SPAM now-a-days. 🙂
https://www.spam.com/varieties
My mom used to season the Classic SPAM and put slices of it in a pan with olive oil and brown-it-up some and make it crispy! 🙂
I like everything you put in your sandwich and I love multigrain and multiseed breads! 🙂
I never understood the panic buying of toilet paper. We already had enough, but I figured if we ran out we could use some old telephone books I had saved…the pages would make fine TP…or just some old washcloths wetted with warm water and soap….could do in a pinch. 😉 😀
I refuse to battle for TP!
Now…I might battle for the last loaf of multi-grain bread! 😉 😀
(((HUGS))) and please stay safe and well!!! And Thank You for always making me smile and laugh!!! 🙂 😀
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July 26, 2020 at 9:59 am |
Yes, Carolyn. Spam was very popular at one stage and so cheap. After arrival In Australia and living in a migrant camp with little money but many children, my mum too made wonderful meals using Spam.
The Spam story is a world wide success. Unfortunately it is also high in fat and sodium, but so are hamburgers and fish and chips, most take a ways.
The battle for toilet paper was amazing. Is that what people worry about mostly in emergencies? Wiping their bums?
When I grew up we did not even buy toilet paper. It wasn’t sold. One just used mother nature and food was the main worry.
That’s when Spam came in.
I just had an email from a woman, who loves spam. She would like to meet me! Spam emails came from the Monty Python show. I hope I don’t get lots of spam emails now.
I shall see.
Hugs too,
Gerard
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July 26, 2020 at 9:26 pm
HA! all that food Human-Beans eat causes us/them to NEED to wipe their bums! 😉 😀
Yay for women who love SPAM! You two could meet for a SPAM-good time. ????
Ha! I don’t like spam e-mails! So I understand!
YAY for Monty Python!!! 🙂
(((HUGS))) for you!
PATS and RUBS for Milo!
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July 27, 2020 at 3:33 am
Yes, I am all for making friends but not with those that take Spam to bed. Perhaps she meant a man called Sam! Who knows?
Manufacturers of toilet paper have been reducing the width of the rolls, ever so slightly, but I am sure they are narrower than they used to be.
Hugs,
Gerard
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July 26, 2020 at 8:44 am |
It’s lucky you’re a svelte dude, Gez because high salt foods are notorious for turning arteries into concrete.
As a child of the fifties, Spam was common in my youth, but I cannot say I’ve seen any open tins since. I have one exception. Once I was doing research into the computer abusive term so I bought a small can which I can in truth attest was pretty shocking.
Had it not have been accompanied with lashings of salt-diluting beer, I was pretty sure my lips would have swelled up larger than my head.
But just as computer spam is an unwanted and unloved imposition, IMHO, the canned porcine detritus runs a close finish.
Not wishing to sledge your peri-war experience of what was then much preferable to abject hunger, I never-the-less implore you to move on into the 21st century and explore the horror of tofu,
Fond regards, Therese.
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July 26, 2020 at 10:23 am |
Yes, I am aware of the deleterious results of salt and fat but this time I just had this overwhelming urge to open a can. I had opened the door of my pantry and saw a row of the cans looking at me. It was such a boring day and I felt like doing some cooking out of the ordinary, Trouserzoff.
The taste was as I remembered from such a long time ago. It was war and hunger that Spam helped to mitigate to a large extend. Tofu is of course now a much preferred item on the menu. By and large I am not a Spam fan at all. I take your concern earnestly and with a large dose of gratefulness. I do not want to end up a spam addict.
Just now I received an email from a lady who desires to meet me. She confided she loves Spam and that she takes a tin to bed with her at times. ‘It makes me fall asleep’, she wrote.
The article I wrote is now taken seriously and I just wrote it to reflect my day that did included a Spam sandwich. I don’t really am a fan of Spam and certainly don’t envisage a relationship with a woman that likes to take Spam to bed. She will probably read this. Perhaps I am a bit paranoid, but popping Spam tins in bed doesn’t make the gravy for me.
I am sorry but the idea of going to bed with someone spooning Spam direct out of a tin doesn’t stir me to much romance. My age is already such that it doesn’t really take much to dwindle my ardency, already at a critical point. The smell of Spam in bed is just not right for me.
I would rather take a book or discuss the latest state of my petunias and perhaps as a finale a nice hug and kiss.
Many thanks for your input, Therese. I really appreciate it.
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July 26, 2020 at 10:23 pm |
Tofu..T.Trousers..was developed and marketted to the “alternative lifestyle” afficianados for no other reason than to “legitimise / creditate” the contents of their fridge if / when the door was opened accidently or on a routine check by another member of that fraternity…I know, because in my first mistake, the partner kept a block of the substance in it’s sealed wrap until it went green and was then replaced with another..much like the “Catch 22” man in plaster’s urinary waste pipe / saline drip.
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July 26, 2020 at 8:54 am |
As idiots trying to corner the toilet paper market, their close relatives are in possession of a hand-sanitiser lake. The stuff is everywhere and some dufuses imported stuff from China that arrived after the party was over and wasn’t even up to virus killing spec – I.e. 70% plus alcohol.
Some bloke on the TV admitted he had a warehouse with $700,000 worth of 63% alcohol that was unsaleable so he was giving it away. Generous but probably against the law considering it may not save somebody with virus-laden hands.
You might recall that we at the pigs arms got in early with a DIY recipe containing vodka and aeroplane jelly. Not a great sanitiser mind you, but awesome if taken internally, Trump-style.
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July 26, 2020 at 10:31 am |
Yes, it also goes back to war time when people too started hoarding things in order to exploit dire situations.
The sanitisers were asking for rorting. Anything with alcohol was flying of the shelves and now, they can’t give it away.
I still have a couple of bottles from early days. I rarely go out and when I go out almost everywhere there are hand sanitisers for free. I reckon rubbing in some Spam might be just as good to prevent Corona.
Would it not be a scoop if Spam was found to be the main ingredient of a good vaccine? Just joking.
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July 26, 2020 at 9:10 am |
Spam has its place. I have a tin in the cupboard for the day when that’s all there is.
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July 26, 2020 at 10:33 am |
Yes, that’s what I thought when I bought them. One never knows, Peggy.
I also have lots of candles and matches who were also in high demand during upheavals and warring.
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July 26, 2020 at 11:12 am |
Oh yeah, I have plenty of candles and matches too. Hey, be prepared.
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July 26, 2020 at 10:27 pm |
There’s nothing like one of those long, nuclear winters to make one grateful of a mother’s advice to store a goodly supply of candles and matches…and might I add ; Vegemite….for the vit’ ‘B’ qualities.
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July 27, 2020 at 3:37 am
Sorry, no vegemite for me. I was traumatised when Mum opened the first jar of vegemite when I was a teenager and at my most vulnerable.
I just about passed out. I just can’t get out of the idea of the relationship between vegemite and wiping bums.
Perhaps a good counsellor can sort me out?
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July 27, 2020 at 3:55 am
Vegemite, Gerard, like a cornered rat, must be approached cautiously…because too sudden an application can bite!…Years ago, when there was such a thing in Oz a the “BAKER!!” delivery van and a “tank-loaf” of fresh, white bread was delivered to your door, your mum would cut off a slice with the hand turned bread-slicer and soft REAL butter was spread TO THE EDGES and the thinnest veneered application of Marmite or Vegemite was touched .. touched, mind!…onto the butter…NOT a complete cover, but like a spring sky with bits of sunlight between the clouds.. butter here and there left clean and sheen…THAT was the way to serve that delight…it is rarely done correctly these days.
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July 27, 2020 at 5:29 am
freefall852
You can dish up Vegemite at my house any time.
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July 28, 2020 at 2:07 am
I have tried vegemite without looking at the sandwich but I could still taste brown all the time. I know that the stuff is like a national institute here in Australia but give me pancakes with golden syrup anytime.
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July 27, 2020 at 9:24 pm |
You are a food artist, Gerard. Or should I say a SPAM artist? I, btw, did not know what the letters stand for. I guess there was a run on SPAM on this side of the pond, too, along with the TP wars. Also, people bought beans like crazy. Now they’re opening their cupboards and wondering what to do with all the da… beans. I’m also not sure that I knew the history of SPAM during the war. I know that it is a huge staple for the Hawaiian Islands. I love your sense of humor.
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July 28, 2020 at 2:12 am |
Yes, Hawaiians are big on Spam as are the Koreans. I still have lots of beans in the cupboard but that’s alright. I often mix a tin or so with the curry or a soup. Spam emails are actually connected to those cans of spam.
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July 28, 2020 at 9:39 pm
Yes, I think I knew the connection between Spam in a can and Spam in my inbox. But I was unaware of the Korean connection. I learn a lot from you, Gerard. When I’m not spitting coffee through my nose.
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July 28, 2020 at 2:47 am |
Since we are on the subject of culinary delights..permit me to share this moment from my tender youth on the instruction on eating loquats correctly…..
Back in those days..mid-sixties or so, we had a loquat tree in our yard at home and this one year it was most proficient with fruit, so I used to take a small bag of them with me to work to eat at smoko and lunch…but in those days, I, and anyone I knew , used to not peel the fruit, but just eat them skin and all..till one day on the site, at smoko..this Slavic chap at the table watched me eat the whole fruit and then addressed me so;
(I won’t try to do his accent)
“Why, my young friend, do you eat the loquat, skin and all?”
“I don’t know”..I shrugged” I just do..how else would you eat it?”…He put his apple down into his lunch-box and said..
“Here..give me one..I see you have many..that big fat one there..they are the best to show you…” I gave it to him “ Yes,,very juicy”..
He wiped the surface with his rough hand and then held it up in front of us both as in display.
‘This fruit is not just a lump of food..(pause)..this is a sensuous delight..not just to chomp down on like the glutton you are , my young friend!”..and he lay it clutched in one palm and proceeded to peel it with his other hand…a strip at a time ..all the while giving me..and those other bemused older men at the table, a running commentary…I have to admit I felt a tad blushing in those innocent days..
His eyes concentrated and his voice softened..
“This fruit is like a woman..you have to be very gentle..for she will bruise so if you handle her roughly..you like this fruit?..so..you must never be rough with that you love..you must gently peel away the outer layers of “garment” (he paused in his action to give me a querying stare) you understand?” (several other men stifled a guffaw) and when you have it down to the flesh…you gently , with both thumbs..so..spread the flesh wide so you can see the seeds..which you ease out with the index-finger..The hand..my young boy..is not only to be used for rough jobs..like I see you throw around those ‘Acrow props’…you must be more gentle in your work”..and he looked at me sternly.
He performed the whole procedure with all the care and sensuality of a lover..”And there”..he displayed the bare fruit in his open hand..and after a suitable pause for me to absorb the result, he raised the dripping delight to his lips and voluptuously pressed them down on the flesh so the juice oozed over his lips, which he dabbled with a cloth…His eyes rolled back in his head….he then spoke in a almost voiceless whisper..
“And then…my so young and innocent friend..when you bring your lips to touch on that forbidden flesh , you can feel both the fruit and your mouth yield to a higher pleasure than you will ever experience in your otherwise worthless existence …” There was a long pause while he held his pointed to the ceiling hand for a moment of appreciation..
“Pitchken dim..” he sighed.
There was a sudden outburst of laughter in the smoko room from the other men and I felt more than a little uncomfortable….but I was so young then…we are all a lot older now…
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July 29, 2020 at 7:58 am |
Yes, that sure is making the fruit a juicy object of fantasy bordering with some deliberation on the erotic, I guess Jo!. Alas with age I now prefer growing grape hyacinths and proteas, admire the days getting longer and watch the shade descending on my fence just opposite my window.
It is all so lovely now.
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July 29, 2020 at 2:45 am |
I love Spam, and I loved your post. Your sandwich looks pretty darned good, too. When I was a kid, my favorite was plain fried spam with mayo on white bread, but over time I became more sophisticated. Now, I keep some in my hurricane prep cabinet, but I buy the low salt, now. It’s just as tasty, but better for my blood pressure. I like it on whole wheat now, or 9-grain, with some cheese, tomato, and greens — but no mayo. Just a little lime-avocado dressing does quite nicely!
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July 29, 2020 at 7:53 am |
Yes, some items that I generally regard as unappetising can come to the fore suddenly and with surprising speed. It is as if some secret memory gets jolted. So it was with my small hoard of Spam tins. Salt is not my worry as I have low BP and at one stage was urged to eat salty food.
When I opened my food storage, the tins were looking attractive.
I have now gone to share the rest of the can with Milo and he loves it.
I might just try and fry a slice or two, perhaps to celebrate the coming 7th as I will then become the octogenarian officially, and eldest of the Oosterman family here in Australia.
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July 29, 2020 at 2:05 pm |
I would have to be in pretty dire straits to eat Spam, but am very fond of canned corned beef. It’s a completely different thing than real corned beef, but once or twice a year, my stomach will decide, it has to have a big plate of (canned) corned beef hash, with a couple of fried eggs on top. I’ll then be popping antacids, and burping & belching for the next 24 hours, but it’s worth every bit of gas.
There’s a Spam Museum, about 300 miles west of here, and if I ever drive to Minneapolis, I will take a little detour to stop by there, a very strange little shrine.
When my dad was a boy, he loved Spam Burgers, which are a horrible-looking thing. You grind up the pinkish pork stuff, with hard-boiled eggs, mayo, ketchup, onion, sharp cheddar cheese, put this gloop in a hamburger bun, and bake it. For one of his teenage birthdays, he requested as many of these as he could eat, and polished off seven of them.
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July 30, 2020 at 8:17 am |
Yes, the corned beef in can is perhaps better. However I believe Spam outsells everything. Yes, belching and all sorts of other gaseous uprisings is one of those benefits of Spam more so than Corned beef. They say that cow farts are influencing the earth’s atmosphere more than pigs.
I believe Texas is a main market for Spam and this might well explain their laid back and friendly demeanour.
Often feel the need for some anti acid tablets but that is probably more Shiraz related. I never seem to have them handy on the bedside table.
Now on my third evening without vino and very serene about it too.
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July 29, 2020 at 10:20 pm |
I confess to eating a spam sandwich or two in my youth, Gerard. But that was about it. 🙂 As for canned corned beef, it was a staple in Africa when I was there from 1965-67. We mixed in our chop, a rich very spicy hot soup we poured over rice. Mmm, mmm, good. –Curt
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July 30, 2020 at 8:21 am |
Yes, those memories to our youth foods are delicious. However, having retraced and renewed cooking the actual dishes I was often disappointed. I used to be fond of cakes and so looked forward to birthdays with sweets. I now rarely eat anything sweet and often can’t finish a cake.
The spicy soup you enjoy would be my choice too, Curt.
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July 30, 2020 at 4:26 pm
I know what you mean about cake, Gerard. Even though I can still enjoy a piece now and then, I absolutely loved German chocolate cake. My mother used to make them from scratch for me every birthday. They just don’t seemed to taste the same, anymore. –Curt
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