SPAM - 75 Years Old, 1937-2012

I went to the city (NYC's Manhattan) with a friend of mine yesterday. We decided to get lunch (late breakfast for me) in Chinatown, visit Obscura Oddities (they were closed due to filming, now making it 2 out of 3 times this happened when we stopped by there), check out some thrift shops and to stop by the Hungarian Pastry Shop (uptown and across the street from the largest cathedral in the world) to over indulge the taste buds.

While in Chinatown, my buddy, Pete said he needed some white pepper and wanted to buy some in a market there. I brought him to a place with which I was familiar, kind of a Chinese mini supermarket. While there he picked up a few things and so did I. As we left, I said, that while we had been walking to that store, we had passed another market I wanted to check on. We stopped in that other one, which had most of the same stuff as the first with a notable exception. They had an area of the shelves, about 3 feet wide and two or three shelves high, dedicated to SPAM. They had regular Spam and, much to the amazement of my uninformed self, they also had Spam Bacon, Spam with Cheese, Spam Black Pepper, Spam Hickory Smoked, Spam Jalapeno and most importantly they had cans marked for Spam's 75th Anniversary! I had no clue about those other available varieties of Spam, except  for low sodium Spam. I had even less of a clue that this year marked the 75th anniversary of this iconic this all American delicacy, this wondermeat in a can.

Me being me, that being in part a Spam lover, I was tempted to buy at least one of each variety that they had in stock, especially since I have never tasted any but the regular Spam and the lower sodium Spam. Yet, the only one I bought was the one marking the 75th anniversary; it just seemed too good to pass up. and I figured I could get the others any time. In all, it turns out they offer 14 different Spam products. See the complete lineup here. I am going to have to try all of the different flavors. That could make for an excellent bit of outdoor grilling over the winter and maybe a blog or three about the different ones I will have tried by the time I have tried them. Oh joy, yet another excuse not only to eat Spam but also an excuse to try a different beer or two, with each variety of Spam. And now, for your viewing pleasure, the: Monty Python's Flying Circus Spam skit.



Now, I just have to wonder one thing - how in Hades did I miss this from the beginning of 2012 all the way until yesterday, December 7th, when I finally saw my first can of 75th Anniversary Spam - and how in Hell did I miss all those different varieties for who knows how long! So much for buying a case of Spam every couple of or few months at Costco (they only have the regular and/or lower sodium types). Perhaps I should get out more often and wider afield than just Costco to do my Spam shopping.

All the best,
Glenn B