SPAMCAKES

Admit it, SPAM is strange. Even so, SPAM has become somewhat of an American institution since its debut in 1937. During World War II more than 100 million pounds of the canned ham product were shipped to allied troops overseas. By 1959, one billion cans of SPAM were produced and that number doubled to two billion by 1970, the same year that Monty Python’s Flying Circus (with its unforgettable SPAM sketch) debuted on television.

Today, over 7 billion cans of SPAM have been produced, with new varieties like “light SPAM” and “less-sodium SPAM” for those of us who are the slightest bit health-conscious. And, although most people tend to think of SPAM as a comical retro culinary oddity, today I will be eating it for breakfast. This is my very first SPAM experience! The recipe I will be using is straight from the source: www.spam.com, run by Hormel Foods.

The recipe is as follows:

1 1/2 cups pancake mix

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon oil

1 can (7oz) SPAM® Classic, finely chopped

In bowl, combine pancake mix, milk, egg, and oil

Stir in chopped SPAM® Classic

Using 1/3 cup for each pancake, pour batter on greased griddle

Bake until browned on bottom

Turn and brown other side

Serve with syrup or honey

The verdict: SPAM is not the world's scariest food, but it is quite strange. Upon opening the can, I was met with an odor that I could only describe as canned dog food. And the gelatinous goop surrounding the meat was less than desirable. Having said that, SPAMCAKES were actually pretty good (I can just hear the gasps from my mother now) but I do not think that I would make them again. The taste was like a salty pancakes with moments of mushy meat, but the syrup created a nice little breakfast treat. If I were to make this again, I would only use half of the can of SPAM instead of the whole chunk. That way, it would be a little more pancake and a little less ham.

Happy adventuring!