When I was a child, SPAM came to the rescue, through many a hard times, for my family. Picture it! NYC 1970s, single mother, raising three kids in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Which was a ghetto during that time.
She raised us on her own for the most part. Always having to think ahead, and anticipate the next set of challenges. Money was not only tight, it was often scarce. I recall my mother having to borrow $3 in order to have dinner on the table.
SPAM was an ingredient in her bag of tricks. It was always fried, and served usually with white rice and beans.
My favorite way of having it was fried with a tortilla (tortilla for Puerto Ricans means an omelet sauteed so that it has browned edges and center) in a sandwich made from crusty Italian bread.
I once posted about how my Titi Maria would saute cubes of SPAM and add jarred marinara sauce, which she served over pasta. I loved that dish.
So as a sometimes bougie foodie, I have to pause and give props to the blue can of meat that helped sustain my family during hard times. It sustained three young children that grew up to be a teacher, an admissions administrative coordinator at a law school, and a former Marine that served his country honorably.
2 comments:
Thanks for the memories. I had it as a kid, too... But when I tried it a few years ago, it was so salty I couldn't even swallow it... I also find all those breakfast cereals way too sweet and I grew up on Fruit Loops and Captain Crunch! Don't even get me started on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese casseroles! And Shake and Bake! I'm lucky to be alive!
We were also poor growing up, My father was the only one working so spam was known plenty in my house. But there was these government spam that my mother used to get from a church friend of hers. It was made for the army so I was like a 5 lb can and My Mom will fried it, bake it and saute that spam for days. I use to like it more than I used to like beef stew. Now I do not know. You should blog about the great Omelet you made for me yesterday
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