Sixty Seconds: The lowdown on Spam appreciation week

Why do we think of it as a wartime thing?

It really took off during World War II, probably because it was easy to ship and it didn’t go off. You can find YouTube videos of people eating 30-odd-year-old Spam – a time before rules about expiration dates – which they reckon should be OK unless the tin has been damaged. Although the people we’ve seen doing it didn’t seem to be relishing it that much. And they say it smells disgusting. Its long-lasting nature does, however, make it the perfect nuclear-bunker snack.

But it’s junk, right?

Well, in Hawaii – one of the biggest global markets for Spam – it’s thought of as a delicacy and has been introduced into fancy dishes up to and including sushi.

As far as nutrition goes, it’s high in fat, sodium and preservatives, but that’s probably what makes it so tasty delicious – even if it does look like a body part squeezed into a can.

So, how do you serve it, apart from in sushi?

Slice and fry, cover in batter and make a fritter, or fork it straight from the tin. There’s no shortage of ways with Spam, whether it’s crispy Spam steak, Spam fried rice, caramelised Spam and eggs, Spam carbonara or Spam fries served cheekily standing up in an empty Spam tin. It’s clearly a versatile product that couldprobably also be worn as shoes.

So, why do we refer to unwanted emails as Spam?

Good question. And we have a good answer. It all dates back to a Monty Python sketch, Monty Python being a bunch of absolute fruitcakes whose members came up with films such Life Of Brian and Jabberwocky. Oh, and a Camelot spoof musical called… Spamalot.

So they were clearly obsessed. In the sketch from 1970, a pair of diners try to order breakfast from a menu dominated by Spam, leading to the whole restaurant singing ‘Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam! Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam! Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam’. It went on to be a Pythons’ single, ahead of Eric Idle’s Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

And this connects to unsolicited electronic messages how?

It goes back to the 1980s when people would repeat the word ‘Spam’, like in the Python sketch, in chatrooms to drive out people they didn’t want in there. From there it came to mean excessive multiple posting, then to the act of flooding us all with unwanted messages. Or ‘spamming’. To ‘spam’ is now a verb. We told you it was versatile.

You mentioned museums, festivals, special days of celebration…

Indeed. As we embark on Spam Appreciation Week, a time of reflection in most people’s diaries, it’s good to know there’s a Spam Museum in the birthplace of Spam – Austin, Minnesota – where you can look back on the history of Spam while finding out how many Spam-cans-tall you are. Which might come up on a form you need to fill in, or something. Maybe a mortgage application. There’s also the Waikiki Spam Jam festival dedicated to you know what (and yes, that’s Hawaii), on April 29 this year, so you’ve probably still got time to sort out flights.

So, how are we celebrating?

Just a black coffee, thanks.