I grew up in a SPAM household. Okay, maybe “SPAM household” is a stretch. One of the dishes in my mom’s dinner repertoire was Rice-A-Roni with seared cubes of SPAM, and every single time she made it, I would scrunch up my face and then she would say, “Oh, shut up, you LOVE SPAM.” Anyway, she was right. I do love SPAM. It’s meaty and salty and so soft you barely have to chew it (I have teeth but I don’t ALWAYS need to use them). SPAM comes in a few different flavors and now there’s a new one to try if you’re similarly into potted meat mush: Maple SPAM. We cracked open a can, slide the meat out, heated it up, and tasted it to find out whether it’s worthy of your mom’s Rice-A-Roni.
Maple SPAM is very delicious, but I have two caveats. First, you really have to like maple-flavored things. This is very much a breakfast meat. In fact, my colleague Jordan Myrick, who generally likes SPAM, described this as being like “a soft, meaty pancake,” but they also don’t gravitate toward maple flavored things. Second, it’s nowhere near as salty as regular SPAM. I’m not saying it’s lower sodium than regular SPAM, just that the sweetness of the maple flavor sort of counteracts that intense saltiness you’re used to getting from SPAM. Personally, I think SPAM is a touch salty, so I’m fine with it.
I know a product is good when I keep taking bites even though I am done tasting it for the purposes of writing a review. I could not stop eating this stuff. The sweetness and saltiness are really well balanced—that perfect savory-sweet combo. I would absolutely eat a seared slab of this with some over-easy eggs and potatoes. It is kind of like meat and a stack of pancakes in one convenient can!
Gwynedd Stuart, Sporked’s managing editor, is an L.A.-based writer and editor who spends way, way too much time at the grocery store. She’s never met an Old El Paso taco or mozzarella stick she didn’t like.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!