Since we are celebrating a Hawaiian Theme of the Month, SPAM (the food, not the annoying junk e-mail) immediately comes to mind. (SPAM is a favorite food in Hawaii.) Bring in some SPAM and try one of the SPAM recipes above. For something to talk about during your activity, we have put together some interesting SPAM history and trivia.

What is SPAM?

SPAM is canned, precooked meat made mostly from pork and ham. Like sausage, hot dogs, and bologna, SPAM is considered a "mystery meat," meaning we know what animal the meat comes from, but the cuts of meat (the parts of the animal) used are unknown. Varieties of SPAM vary by region and include SPAM Classic, SPAM Hot & Spicy, SPAM Less Sodium, SPAM Lite, SPAM Oven Roasted Turkey, Hickory Smoked SPAM, SPAM with Bacon, SPAM with Cheese, SPAM Spread, and even SPAM Hot Dogs.

How Did It All Begin?

SPAM may be famous now, but it wasn't always that way. The fact is that SPAM hails from some rather humble beginnings. Flash back to 1937 in Austin, Minnesota. There wasn't much there, except for a food company called Hormel. However, these good folks were about to hit upon an amazing little recipe - spicy pork and ham packaged in a handy dandy 12-ounce can.

In 1887, George Hormel was an ambitious 27-year-old businessman when, while visiting friends in Austin, Minnesota, he learned of a butcher shop that had closed after a fire. Hormel borrowed $500 from his boss and reopened the shop. Next, he converted a creamery into a meat market, and by 1893, he controlled most of the meat business in the area. The turn-of-the-century innovation of improved refrigerator train cars allowed Hormel to expand outside the area, and the addition of an ice storage facility at the Hormel plant in 1899 allowed the company to process more meat.

The business continued to grow, and in 1935, Jay Hormel, George's son, added canned chili and Dinty Moore Beef Stew to the list of products. Two years later, SPAM was added. Because of their long shelf life without refrigeration, the products were perfect staples during the Great Depression and World War II. In its first year of production, SPAM grabbed 18 percent of the market. Nearly 70 years later, more than 6 billion cans of SPAM have been sold.

Origin of SPAM's Name

Jay Hormel, then president of the company, wanted to find a name for the product that was "as distinctive as its taste.” He decided to hold a contest and turned to his country club circle of friends for help. The younger Hormel threw a party at his 170-acre Austin estate and asked guests to "pay" for cocktails by suggesting a name for the new product every time they ordered a drink. "Along about the third or fourth drink they began showing some imagination," the executive later recalled. It was Kenneth Daigneau, a visiting New York radio actor, who suggested the name that was eventually chosen - SPAM. It was a meshing together of the words "spiced" and "ham."

SPAM – Hawaii’s Soul Food

SPAM became popular in Hawaii during World War II. Fresh meat was scarce at the time, so civilians loaded up on SPAM, a brand name C-ration that was well known to GIs. Needing no refrigeration, SPAM soon became one of three items islanders stocked up on (along with toilet paper and rice) during threats of hurricanes, tsunamis, or dockworkers' strikes.

More recently, SPAM was added to McDonald's breakfast menu in Hawaii. Hawaii's SPAM Cookbook lists recipes for SPAM omelets, SPAM and beans, and SPAM with Japanese radish fermented in a "syrupy" sauce.

But it's the SPAM musubi, introduced in the 1980s, that reigns supreme in delis, 7-Elevens, and Hawaiian restaurants on the mainland. Hawaiians and tourists insist that the Tamashiro Market in Honolulu serves the absolute best SPAM musubi. And it will only cost you $1.25. Basically, it is a piece of dried seaweed wrapped around a cake of cooked rice that is topped with a slice of SPAM.

Since 2002, Honolulu has been hosting an annual SPAM Jam. The festival features live music, food, crafts, a Mr. or Ms. SPAM contest, and hula performances. In 2005, a giant SPAM Musubi was the life of the party. It was 313 feet long and required more than 275 pounds of rice, 1,650 slices of SPAM, and 600 feet of the dried seaweed called nori.

SPAM Trivia & Fun Facts