Hawaii Butchers Spam [Artisanal]

Hawaii has a lot of different Spam and people come to the islands asking why there is so much. It wasn't something that was asked for, but there was a time that hormel believed it could boost the selection of spam to be more catered to what sorts of flavors people wanted. There was a large demand for spam in hawaii , but the tastes were all over the place with different families adding different things like kimchee, hot sauce, sweet teriyaki, sausage seasonings on the grill, garlic salt for some punch and even marinades. This would have Hormel developing its own selections connected to the brand name that people already have ingrained in them at their first experience of a Breakfast plate in Hawaii.

Foodies would be quick to rank the different spam's that were available like: Teriyaki, Portuguese Sausage, Hot & Spicy, Cheese, Bacon, Chorizo, Hickory Smoke, Turkey, Black Pepper, Jalapeno, and Tocino. These would be known as "Da Spam Power Rankings", which was fun for all sorts of spam lovers to do, so they could share what was their favorites and just giving a reason to try them all. These discussions became so hot that it would make people talk about spam practically for an entire hang out session and if they were die hard fans they would wait for the yearly event "Spam Jam". While most of the people around in Hawaii are eating the basic spam there is a whole group that is dedicated to uncovering the spam in all its glory of variations, but not just that, but also the musubi that it is tied to so closely. Spams to meat grinds, Musubis to rice types, and Seasonings galore were fun and delicious. 

There would be 15 unique Spam flavors, with the classic flavor dominating the most in demand in canned meat. Local dishes like Spam musubi, would prove to be something much larger in its variety where it might actually be not as profitable to enter the market with such regionality nuances. The recipe cards and oral recipes past on from one generation to the next would make it close to impossible to reach all the flavors of spam, that being said the varieties that were offered were well received, but locals wanted more flavors. This would leed chefs into their own development of spam flavors by asking customers what they liked and changing up the blends to make it a different sort of spam, a frankenstein spam, a less-than hormel concoction of meaty slices. It started to enter the world of artisan meat blends.

Butcher shops would go on to see if they could mimic the spam, just so that the demand of different spams could be fully capitalized on. It was no longer just about the hormel spam, but people wanted to taste spams from specific butchers, and the meat case would be the place a meat would be seen. A anonymous chef stated “Hormel Corporation have a marinated take on spam” he says. “And knowing their customers variation preferences is very good, like the traditional Spam is a mythical luncheon meet. It was never directed to necessarily show encouragement in making meat mixtures that are outside the can. Some might even ask why the change, but the change is necessary for Hawaii to go forward with its Spam identity and its recipe Localization. Its a win win for both the spam lovers in the islands and Hormel corporation to spread their brand.”

So what goes into the Artisan Spam? Butchers slice the meat through the pork shoulder into steaks and then slice down to make long strips to place into the grinder and repeat the process for the ham. The butcher then grinds the pork shoulder and ham and mixes it in a bowl thoroughly and then adds in the slurry and mixes again until it seems paste like. It is then placed into a pan mold and steamed and afterwards refrigerated overnight to get the fat gelatin to come out of the meat. 

Avoiding the Sodium Nitrate, so overtime people were getting high blood pressure from eating spam that had too much salt in it, but not just any salt, a special curing salt that spikes up the sodium numbers. It leaves doctors in horror, it leaves sodium addicts with a hit, and gets people knowing that they can really taste the canned meat. But that can be a problem, because that stuff can be harmful, but whats bad is people dont realize just how much they are eating it. Cured meats from the deli, cured meats from the market, and other canned goods all use the stuff, because frankly it makes it taste dang delicious. Something that will kill you, but taste strong enough that it takes you to the next level? many would say to count them in and with spam it is no different.

Canned spam uses sodium nitrate which is different from Home-made or Gourmet spam that simply uses salt. When butchers make spam it can have different seasonings or in hawaii different steaming liquid in the steam process or even marinades after the spam comes out of the fridge. Fresh Spam does not have Sodium Nitrate which is typical in all cans of spam to keep that extra pink color and helps with shelf life. One of the first questions people ask when a spam is artisanal and not hormel is the dissociation with sodium nitrate, that is until the company realizes... people want even healthier versions in small quantities, other than the less-sodium variety. While the less sodium is attractive it is hard to compete with spam ground fresh on the spot served by someone known in the neighborhood. Some feelings only come from visiting a local butcher.