Hawaii’s Love Affair with Spam

By Theresa

When most people think of Hawaii, they think of beautiful beaches, surfing, and luaus. Spam, the famous mystery meat in a can is not what one expects to find on menus everywhere including McDonald’s, but that is exactly what I discovered when I visited Oahu on my honeymoon.

My first encounter with Hawaii’s love affair with Spam is when I walked into a 7-11 and found Spam Musubi, a grilled slab of the meat on a bed of rice wrapped together with nori (seaweed). At only two dollars a pop, they came individually wrapped and made a convenient and tasty snack.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, “Ewwww…Spam?!” Spam might have some negative connotations in some parts (aka the poor man’s ham, or “Something Posing as Meat”), but Hawaiians simply see this canned meat as a staple in their diet after it became popular during World War II. Today Hawaiians consume the largest amounts of Spam per capita in the US.

My grandma used to occasionally cook with Spam so I probably have less of an aversion to the canned meat than most. I miss Spam Musubi so much now that I plan on trying out a recipe.

In the words of Dr. Seuss in Green Eggs and Ham:

You do not like them.
So you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may, I say.