I was recently invited to cook with celebrity chef Sunny Anderson. I know. Shut up. Of course I was going to attend!
The surprise was that she was kicking off The SPAMERICAN!TM Tour and would be cooking - wait for it - with SPAM®.
FYI: The SPAM Brand invited me to the event and provided me with a gift bag like the one I'm giving away. All the opinions and text are my own.
Do you remember the ubiquitous blue and yellow can that was in everyone's mother's pantry? Go right now and read about the 6 simple ingredients that go into each can of SPAM®. It's okay. I'll wait.
Wasn't that interesting?
I know a lot of us Cubans from my generation remember it fondly. In fact, my mom used to make a wonderful Arroz con SPAM®. I am not kidding. In fact, I'd forgotten all about it until I attended the event and my memory was jogged. It was like Arroz con Salchichas, but with SPAM® instead. And it was indescribably delicious.
Full disclosure: I just haven't eaten SPAM® in a lot of years.
That all changed at this event.
A group of us bloggers jumped right in with Sunny as she extolled the wonders of SPAM®.
"For many years now, I have been a fan of the SPAM® brand; its flavor and versatility lends itself to so many different cooking styles and recipes. The SPAMERICAN!TM Tour brings together such a unique curation of SPAM® dishes and is a celebration of the iconic taste that Americans and chefs, like myself, have grown to love."
I guess I shouldn't have been, but I was mildly surprised that some of the younger people present had never even tasted it in their lives. And I loved seeing their faces when they tried it for the first time. It was a where-have-you-been-all-my-life look of surprise.
The entire place was decked out in all kinds of SPAM-aliciousness.
The SPAMERICAN!TM TOUR kicked off at our event in LA with Chef Sunny Anderson unveiling a special menu. The truck will be traveling to popular events across the country, it will feature partnerships with local chefs.
At each of the 12 stops, fans will enjoy a signature recipe, alongside some SPAMTASTICTM creations from local chefs, all while experiencing a taste of the brand's fun-loving personality.
Sunny made Coconut SPAM® Spears with Spicy Pineapple Chutney. (recipe follows) While the cooking was happening, the SPAM® Tour Truck kept sending out the tastiest creations. Imagine a cocktail party with all the hors d'oeuvres made with a little bit of SPAM®.
Guys, it was so deliciously genius.
The sweet and sour fragrance of Sunny's chutney was to die for. The SPAM® was sliced into spears, rolled in beer batter and deep fried to golden perfection.
Here me now and believe me later...they were crazy-delicious.
Coconut SPAM® Spears with Spicy Pineapple Chutney
Ingredients
- For the Chutney
- 1 cup crushed pineapple
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoons mild yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts (plus more for garnish)
- For the spears
- 1 12-ounce can of any SPAM® variety
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup shredded, sweetened coconut
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup soda water, ice cold
- A pinch of salt
- Canola oil, for frying
-
Make the chutney. In a small sauce pan on medium heat add the pineapple, lemon juice, sugar, vinegar, curry powder, salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook while stirring until the pot begins to bubble a bit, then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. In a small bowl mix the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of warm water. Stir until smooth. Pour this mixture into the chutney. Stir to incorporate. Turn off heat and allow to cool. Once cool, stir in the scallions (remember to leave some for garnish!).
- Prepare the spears. Fill a large pot or deep fryer with canola oil, leaving a few inches at the top. Bring the temperature to 375° F. Cut the SPAM® in half lengthwise and then cut each half into five long spears. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, coconut, cornstarch and lemon zest. Add in the soda water and egg. Dip the spears into the tempura batter and slowly lower the battered SPAM® into the fryer. Let fry for 5 minutes or until brown and crispy. Remove to a sheet tray lined with a wire rack. Serve the SPAM® spears with a side of Pineapple Chutney.
One of the funnest parts of this event, besides cooking with Sunny, was all of the supremely clever SPAM® merchandise from the SPAM® Tour. In fact, I confess I'm kind of becoming a SPAM® Snob. (Don't judge me.)
And because I love you (and the SPAM® peeps are supremely generous) I'm doing a giveaway for a great big bag of all that is good and holy about the SPAM® brand. Believe it.
Also, you know what's really fun to say? SPAM®. But that's not important right now.
The SPAM BAG Giveaway is for the following:
- 1 SPAM Tote Bag
- Sunglasses (these are Eric's favorite because they're super polarized)
- Cutting Sheet
- Can Holder
- Pen
- SPAM Can Bank
- SPAM Temporary Tattoo
- SPAM Spatula (say that 3 times, really fast)
- SPAM Slicer
- Wine Glass
- SPAM Cook Book
- SPAM Apron
- SPAM Mug
- SPAM Pennant
- SPAM Pot Holder
- And a variety of SPAM product
1) To enter this drawing for the SPAM® Bag of Fun (That's not really what it's called, I just named it that.)
Please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:
- Tell me what your remember about SPAM®.
- Go to this link: SPAM® Recipes and tell me what sounds good to you!
Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose one winner on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015 at 11am PST.
Also, as I was writing this post I keep thinking of this Monty Python skit. But that's not important right now either. I just cracked myself up.
Growing up I used to love when my mom made Spam! That was one of my favorite memories.
What sounds good is this: http://www.spam.com/recipes/2-Step-SPAM-Grilled-Cheese
I love Grilled cheese and looks good with Spam added to it. I need to try it.
Posted by: [email protected] | May 31, 2015 at 11:16 PM
My mom and aunt used it to make croquettas..Mmmmm so good!
What sounds good to me is the yummy grilled cheese or the Monte Cristo...
Posted by: Pilar Montoya | June 01, 2015 at 12:26 AM
I'll be honest - my Jewish family wasn't big in Spam, for obvious reasons. Having said that, I thought the Spam skillet and the Hawaiian Spambuger looked delicious! I loved your post =)
Posted by: Haylee Shalaby | June 01, 2015 at 02:30 AM
Oven cooks spam slices and huevos fritos are awesome for breakfast. My family does it at least once a month. The tai spam meatballs look great.
Posted by: Rosie buznego | June 01, 2015 at 09:14 AM
I remember my days in High School, my mom used to make Spam sandwiches for school, she fried Spam first and the flavor was absolutely wonderful. My mouth is watering and is 10am. I think I'm buying some Spam this week! Yummy!!
Posted by: Esther Avila-Young | June 01, 2015 at 10:02 AM
Las papas rellenas con Spam son deliciosas!
Revoltillo de huevos, Spam, papas fritas, y tomates.
Pan cubano con Mayonesa y lasca fina de Spam
Posted by: [email protected] | June 01, 2015 at 12:18 PM
Growing up, we always had spam at home. We used to slice it up, empanizarlos with galleta molida, and fry them. Also, we would make yellow rice, similar to arroz con pollo, but adding spam instead. All the recipes look amazing, but the one I think I'll try are the egg rolls. It sounds healthy and delicious! Gracias!!!
Posted by: Laura Medina | June 01, 2015 at 01:40 PM
Hi Marta! I missed out on Spam growing up as my mom never really cooked with it however, the Calzone Spam looks scrumptious.. and I will buy it to make Spamdogs with sauerkraut, relish, mustard and ketchup all on a potato hotdog bun... How do you that combo?!
Posted by: Ada Sanchez | June 02, 2015 at 01:16 AM
We made sweet caramelized Spam with petit pois and I still LOVE it!! I think the Monte Cristo sounds delish:)
Posted by: Kiki Bacaro | June 02, 2015 at 06:04 PM
Growing up what I remember about spam is that I did not like when my mother cooked it, I would always tell her I didn't like, but that was because I hadn't tried it, well one day she convinced me to try it, and the rest is history. as a matter of fact, that is what we had for dinner last night and my son loves it.
Posted by: angela lazo | June 02, 2015 at 09:46 PM
I remember my Mom ALWAYS has Spam in the house when we were growing up. It was affordable and she made wonders with it (a few have been mentioned in the comments above). We ate Spam "hasta por los ojos." So having said that, Spam does not make me go WOW! I ate plenty of it during my childhood and teenage years, lol.
Posted by: Faustino J. Rodriguez | June 03, 2015 at 09:03 AM