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EP42 - What is SPAM? · Oh And One More Thing

0:10
Some old friends facing our fears, laughing through the
0:13
chaos and drinking some beers. So here's to the laughs, the
0:16
crumbs and the cheers, all the awkward moments and we're still
0:19
here 'cause in the end, we're just doing our thing.
0:22
It's our crazy life. One more thing, one more thing.
0:35
Hi, I'm Brian. Welcome to Owen.
0:36
One more thing. Hey Brian, I'm Rob.
0:39
How you doing? I'm good.
0:40
Hey, welcome back to the only podcast that pairs well with
0:42
copy, procrastination and pretending to work.
0:46
Really. You worked hard on that, didn't
0:48
you? I've been busy today.
0:49
Yeah, you have. What's going on, man?
0:51
What's new? I don't know.
0:52
Same plot, new episode. Yeah, that's my way of saying
0:55
same shit, different day. I like it.
0:58
I like it. So I have I have a little tidbit
1:00
story for you. What's that?
1:01
So remember a couple of podcasts ago we did one on tipping.
1:04
Yes, we did. Right.
1:05
And I, as I'm, as you can tell from our podcast, I was very
1:08
frustrated with it. So at coffee the other day,
1:11
yeah, I made a big mistake. Oh, what did you do?
1:13
Did you hit the 28%? No.
1:15
So, OK, So what was weird is we didn't have our normal barista.
1:18
We've had the same barista there for like 3 months and we had a,
1:20
we had a newbie there. Yeah, and I'm gonna think I'm
1:23
gonna be the smart guy and I'm not gonna do the, I'm not gonna
1:25
do the regular tip. I'm gonna hit the custom button.
1:27
Right 'cause don't do that. I know.
1:28
And I learned my lesson. So it came up at 1820 and 22 and
1:32
every time I get a $5 coffee, I give him a 20% tip.
1:34
So it's like a dollar tip, right?
1:35
Right. It's it's.
1:36
Fine, it's a lot of it's a big tip, but it's a.
1:38
Big tip, right? So like, no, I'm gonna give you
1:40
15% today. Yeah, OK, right.
1:42
Kind of a Jackass move, but I'm gonna give you 15%.
1:44
New we all have Jackass move. Right.
1:46
I don't know you yet. So you 15%.
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So I hit the custom button and I hit 15 and I hit enter.
1:52
She didn't give her. I gave her $0.15 I felt.
1:56
So bad. Oh well.
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I went to go see it. I had a dollar.
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I didn't. I only had 20.
2:00
So she got a $0.15 tip. So I'm kind of hoping.
2:02
She's there next time. I hope she's there next week
2:05
because then she's getting the she's getting the 22 button.
2:07
That's nice to me. I know, right?
2:08
Yeah, hey, why did the can of spam go to therapy?
2:11
I don't know why. Because it felt like everyone
2:13
was just filtering it out and it couldn't handle the rejection.
2:18
Funny you had that joke today. Yeah, isn't it?
2:20
Have you ever had Spam I? Love spam?
2:23
You. Do I do?
2:25
Oh, gross. No, I don't like spam.
2:27
No spam is the worst. So what the heck is spam anyway?
2:29
Well, it's a. Type of unwanted unsolicited
2:31
digital communication sent in bulk.
2:33
It's mostly emails, but sometimes you get text messages,
2:36
phone calls, and even on social media.
2:37
That's the worst, but often used for malicious advertising or
2:40
phishing purposes. Spam.
2:42
There's a ton of it, man represents over 80% of global
2:45
e-mail traffic. It's.
2:46
Frequently. No, no, no, no, no.
2:48
Not that kind of spam. What are you talking about?
2:51
However, that was an interesting stat.
2:52
Really. 80% right. Yeah.
2:54
Yeah. Anyway, the food spam, have you
2:56
ever had it? Oh, that's them.
2:58
See, that's a spam I love. No, you don't.
3:01
Do you really? Yeah, Yes, you like it?
3:03
You. You don't.
3:04
No. Why?
3:07
What's wrong? Yeah, I used to eat it, eat it
3:09
when I was a kid all the time, but I don't know, I, I won't eat
3:11
it now. Why?
3:12
It's just really salty. And I if I remember correctly,
3:16
it was salty. But yeah, I don't know.
3:18
It's. Kind of like a salt like but
3:19
it's if you salt but if you prepare appropriately.
3:23
So my favorite is spam and eggs. OK, cut up in little cubes and
3:28
fried up in the pan and toss in your eggs.
3:29
Oh yeah. Do you have it now recently?
3:32
It's, I mean, within the last couple of months probably.
3:34
I mean, there's a couple of cans in our pantry because, you know,
3:36
it does last for like 35 years, yeah.
3:38
It'll it'll never go bad, never goes.
3:39
Bad. No, no.
3:40
But it it is good. So very few foods have achieved
3:43
the strange, enduring celebrity like Spam, a rectangular pink
3:47
block that has inspired devotion, ridicule, wartime
3:51
survival, culinary reinvention and the entire category of an
3:55
unsolicited e-mail. Yeah.
3:57
That one's weird to me. Yeah, not bad for somebody that
3:59
slides out of a can with a polite Shoal.
4:03
That is kind of gross. Gross.
4:05
So what do you say? Should we peel back the easy
4:07
open lid and explore the surprising epic saga of the
4:10
world's most famous canned meat? Yum Yum I.
4:15
Love spam. I don't Spam was introduced to
4:20
the world in 1937 by Hormel Foods, founded by the
4:23
entrepreneurial George A Hormel in Austin, MN.
4:27
Local boy does good. Yes, he does.
4:29
The product was developed by a Hormel executive, J Hormel.
4:34
Related Probably related guessing.
4:36
Who wanted a way to sell pork shoulder?
4:38
A cut that was flavorful but not flying off the butcher counters.
4:42
Pork shoulder. I don't know enough about pork
4:43
and like what meats are good, but he says it's good.
4:46
I guess it's good. What do they make bacon out of?
4:49
Side pork, isn't it? It's not the same thing.
4:51
No, no. Same general area.
4:53
Isn't that? Right.
4:54
It's more like the rib area, ribby area.
4:56
In your stomach area and the. Shoulders more up here.
4:58
I'm guessing I don't know what's wrong with it.
5:00
So how did the canned meat get its name?
5:02
The name Spam is widely said to be a mash up of spiced ham.
5:07
Oh, that makes sense. Though Hormel had long
5:09
maintained a certain mystique about the true origin, a naming
5:13
contest reportedly awarded $100 to Kenneth Diagno.
5:19
I guess that's how you say. I'll go with that.
5:20
A brother to a Hormel food exec for coming up with a name For
5:24
$100 in 1937, you could buy a decent used car or presumably
5:29
very large quantity of spam. That's a.
5:31
Lot of spam that. Is a lot of spam.
5:33
The product was designed to boost sales of pork shoulder,
5:35
and the name Spam was chosen to replace the less appealing name
5:38
of Hormel spiced ham. Yet again I say, Oh.
5:42
My love it. Gross.
5:44
Yeah. So Spam's big break actually
5:46
came during World War 2. That makes sense.
5:48
So with. Refrigeration unreliable and
5:50
fresh meats scarce. The US military shipped over
5:53
100,000,000 lbs of Spam to troops overseas.
5:56
Oh my gosh, that's a lot. 'Cause you know why it didn't
5:59
spoil, it didn't complain, and it could be eaten hot or.
6:01
Cold yuck. Quantities highly prized in both
6:04
soldiers and the luncheon meats. Girls.
6:07
Yeah, See, I don't like this. Spam fed Allied troops across
6:12
Europe and the Pacific. British civilians encountered it
6:15
through wartime imports, and the rationing made fresh meat rare.
6:19
Spam was abundant enough to become a fixture.
6:21
OK. The war cemented Spam is both
6:23
hero and punchline. Soldiers were great.
6:26
Soldiers were grateful and occasionally resentful of its
6:29
omnipresence. When a food appears at
6:30
breakfast, lunch and dinner, and possibly in your dream, intimacy
6:34
is inevitable. That's right, spam statistics
6:37
are as dense as its texture. Oh again, gross.
6:41
Over 9 billion cans have been sold worldwide since 1937.
6:45
Billion with AB billion. With AB, that's a lot of That's
6:48
a lot of pork shoulder, lot of Spam.
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Available in more than 44 countries.
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Dozens of flavors, including teriyaki, jalapeno, hot and
6:57
spicy, didn't even few. I've only had the.
6:59
Original. I've never had any of these.
7:01
Oh. I feel, I feel a project for us.
7:03
Oh. No, chef, Come on.
7:06
OK, Yeah, I am. But no, OK, let's do it.
7:08
OK. In some markets, annual per
7:10
capita consumption rivals that of far more glamorous proteins.
7:15
Oh, I can see that. Really.
7:16
Yeah, I can see that. Again, some places where some
7:18
proteins are scarce or just just like weird, like you're eating
7:21
like spiders and snake guts. That makes sense.
7:25
First of all, why are we eating snake guts?
7:28
We are not. Well, I mean, maybe Spider we
7:31
aren't, but somebody is. Chocolate covered grasshoppers.
7:36
Yeah, that's true. That's true.
7:37
Things like that, yeah. Do you know what the undisputed
7:40
spam capital of the world is? It's not Austin, MN.
7:42
It is not. What is it, Hawaii?
7:44
Shut the front door right. Is it really?
7:46
Yeah. Oh nice.
7:52
Hey Brian, I was just outside trying to enjoy the yard and the
7:55
mosquitoes are driving me nuts. Oh, you got to call Spring Green
7:58
for that. Rob Spring Green I thought they
7:59
just did my fertilizer and weed control.
8:01
Oh, they do that, and our lawn looks amazing because of it.
8:04
But their mosquito control is a game changer.
8:07
We can actually use our patio. You know how bad the state bird
8:10
gets in Minnesota? I'm pretty sure that's the loon,
8:13
but point taken. So they do lawns and mosquitoes.
8:16
And total home pest control. My house is completely mouse
8:19
free. They even do liquid aerations
8:21
and lawn insect. Control.
8:22
Wow. I'm only using them for half of
8:24
what I could be. You should fix that.
8:26
Go to springdashgreen.com and get a personalized quote today.
8:29
That's spring dashgreen.com. And tell them.
8:32
Oh, and one more thing, Sancha. So Spam arrived in Hawaii during
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World War 2 alongside American troops.
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Fresh meat was scarce, as we said earlier on the island, and
8:43
Spam shelf stability made it indispensable.
8:46
Over time, it embedded itself into local cuisine.
8:49
And the movie 51st dates. Right.
8:51
I guess it was on there. It was.
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It's very. Popular on there today,
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Hawaiians consume millions of cans annually, far more per
8:56
capita than any US state. Spam musubi.
9:00
Mesabi. Isn't it the soubi?
9:02
Mesabi. I'm reading how it's spelled.
9:03
I don't know. Let's go with Mesabi.
9:05
Well, it tells you what it is. A slice of grilled spam atop
9:09
rice wrapped with nori. You know, Nori is No, it's that
9:12
black seaweed. Oh yeah, that's gross.
9:14
That's what's on your on your sushi rolls.
9:16
No, it's OK then. Oh wait, do you like sushi?
9:17
Not really, no. I didn't think you did.
9:19
California Roll. It's on that.
9:20
OK, I like that. Can't taste it.
9:22
No, right? So spam mesabi is as common as a
9:25
sandwich? Really.
9:27
You'll find spam and fried rice samimi.
9:29
I don't. Know what that is?
9:30
It's not no salmon, salmon, salmon.
9:33
OK, that that sounds bad. Oh my God.
9:37
Which is a noodle soup. Kind of like faux FA FA.
9:40
That's FA. Yeah, my God, my pronunciations
9:42
are horrible. Terrible.
9:44
It's about time that you screw up once in a while.
9:47
Take the wheel and run, Jackass. Alright, so in that it's an
9:52
omelet and there even some upscale reinterpretations.
9:55
I wonder what those are. I don't know.
9:56
Every year, Waikiki Spam Jam celebrates A culinary romance
10:00
with a festival devoted entirely to the canned classic.
10:04
That's crazy. It is perhaps the only food that
10:07
can headline a street festival without irony.
10:10
And I am so booking my next trip to Hawaii and during the week of
10:14
Waikiki Spam jam. Wouldn't that be cool?
10:16
That sounds fun. We could replay this podcast in
10:20
Hawaii, OH. My God, we could just put it
10:21
like we could do the 80s thing, put a Bing boom box on her head,
10:23
let's walk around playing the broadcast.
10:24
That'd be awesome. We're total.
10:26
We're totally doing that, all right.
10:29
Spam achieved immortal absurdity thanks to Monty Python's Flying
10:32
Circus. I like them.
10:33
It's only a. Flesh Wound, whose famous spam
10:36
sketch featured Viking singing the word repeatedly, drowning
10:39
out all other conversation. The joke spam is everywhere,
10:42
unavoidable, inescapable. Do you remember that sketch at
10:45
all? I.
10:46
I. Vaguely, I do a little bit.
10:47
Spam, Spam. Yeah, I remember that part,
10:49
yeah. Spam, spam, spam, spam spam.
10:54
The sketch directly inspired the modern term spam for unwanted
10:57
bulk e-mail. Hey, that's I love that.
11:01
In the early days of the Internet, users describe
11:03
repetitive, intrusive messages as spam and homage to the
11:06
sketch. Thus, a humble canned meat gave
11:08
its name to one of the digital ages.
11:10
Great annoyances. It's a rare brand that feeds
11:13
both soldiers and metaphors. That's funny.
11:19
That is funny. All right.
11:20
See, I told you headed in here. Yes, Right.
11:22
I just couldn't find it. Couldn't find it, so what's
11:25
actually? In it, nobody knows.
11:27
Nope, you really don't. Actually, it's probably we want
11:29
to know. It's probably on the candy,
11:31
bread and. You would?
11:31
Yeah. Classic Spam contains just six
11:34
ingredients. Pork with ham?
11:37
Yeah. We knew that.
11:38
Isn't that kind of the same? Yeah.
11:39
Salt water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrate Sugar.
11:43
It is fully cooked in the can. Oh.
11:46
Boo no Which? Both sterilizes and preserves
11:51
it. Oh, this is getting grosser by
11:52
the day. The gelatinous layer you
11:55
sometimes see. That yeah, that is little.
11:58
Gross. That's gross.
11:59
That's natural meat juices set during cooling time, a detail
12:03
that either reassures or alarms, depending on your disposition.
12:07
It alarms it. Alarms you yeah, but but that
12:11
kind of makes sense. Like like when you buy a like
12:14
you buy a jar of pasta sauce. I mean that's that's how they
12:17
seal. I mean they cook it fully and
12:18
then you know, they seal them the when you know when you when
12:21
you jar. There's no gelatinous layer in
12:24
pasta, OK. But I understand that, but I'm
12:26
saying that it makes sense that it's fully cooked like they
12:29
cooked. That's how they can.
12:30
That's something. That makes yeah, tuna.
12:31
Yeah, cans of tuna. They cook them in the can,
12:33
right? If you ever open it and see that
12:34
little sludge over the top of it, Yeah, yeah.
12:36
That's kind of so gross. But.
12:40
But nutritionally, SPAM is high in protein and yes, sodium.
12:45
It was engineered for durability, not for yogurt
12:48
treats. Well, some foods chase trends.
12:52
Spam quietly adapts. Hormel has introduced lower
12:54
sodium versions. Turkey Spam, What do you know,
12:56
they had that and also regionally tailored flavors.
12:59
In parts of Asia, Spam is positioned as a premium imported
13:03
good, really often gift wrapped and proudly displayed.
13:07
What? Yeah.
13:08
What? That's impressive.
13:11
Odd, I love it. I'm curious about the Turkey
13:13
spam. You should get some.
13:14
I'm on AI, can add stuff to my grocery list.
13:17
Some chefs have even embraced it with Spam slides, Tigers, Spam
13:21
Carbonara and Spam Tacos. That sounds yummy.
13:25
No. Ohh, again.
13:27
OK, we're on two sides, different sides of the table
13:29
here. I don't really like it.
13:30
OK, but I'm gonna. Forward you now.
13:31
So next time you come over, we're making you dinner.
13:33
Yeah, it's spam tacos and we're not gonna tell you that.
13:36
So I'll just come across this chunk of salt in my Taco and
13:39
wonder what the hell is. The whole sodium Turkey one that
13:42
that's bad. Wait, wait.
13:43
Wait, do I get the gelatinous mass on the?
13:45
No, you you wipe off the gelatinous mass, then you and
13:48
you cook it again to burn off the gelatinous mass.
13:50
What is wrong with? You, they're so good.
13:53
We're we're not. I'm not selling it, by the way.
13:56
Yeah, it thrives equally in dive diners and fine dining
14:01
experiences. Yeah, I get the dive diners,
14:03
but. No, I don't think so.
14:05
Few foods can toggle between irony and sincerity so
14:09
effortlessly. I don't believe that I.
14:12
Don't either. So spam survives because it
14:14
solves problems, which is the key to anything.
14:17
It does not require refrigeration until it's opened,
14:19
right? It lasts for years.
14:21
A lot of years. It's versatile.
14:24
OK, so you they say. And it's affordable.
14:26
Right that it is. It's a good way to your protein
14:28
on a budget. OK, there's that.
14:30
But beyond practicality, Spam persists because it occupies a
14:33
peculiar emotional space. It's comfort food for some, camp
14:37
food for others, and cultural heritage for many.
14:40
It evokes wartime resilience, childhood lunches and late night
14:44
fried rice improvisations. No, I'm not going to do that,
14:48
but I do remember having it as a child, right?
14:50
Well, because in the 60s and 70s, that's just what we did.
14:53
Well, it was it was economical. Yeah.
14:54
Absolutely. Yeah.
14:55
Few foods inspire. Both affectionate nostalgia and
14:59
gleeful satire, Spam has managed both without changing a basic
15:03
formula since 1937. That's crazy.
15:07
And hilarious. Yeah.
15:08
If you wish to pay homage, you can visit the Spam Museum in
15:11
Austin, MN. Have you ever been there?
15:13
I have not driven past it many times.
15:14
I always said we should stop there sometime.
15:16
We should make a road trip. And go there.
15:17
I don't. But have we stopped there?
15:18
No, no, I think that's on our summer list.
15:20
We're we're going to take a day, we're going to take a day trip
15:22
down to Austin. OK, let's take a day off work.
15:24
You take a day off work. We'll just go.
15:26
We can do it on a weekend. No, we have other things to do
15:29
on the weekend. We have to go on the lake.
15:30
Oh, there is that. That's true.
15:31
OK. Well, maybe like on a then we'll
15:33
take an early Friday like a nooner.
15:34
OK. And then we go like an hour
15:37
farther, we can go do sports betting at Diamond Joe's in
15:39
Iowa. Yeah, let's do that because we
15:41
can't do that in Minnesota. No.
15:42
Yeah. Because you told they want to
15:43
bet on sports, right? I do, I love sports.
15:48
You have more to read. Oh, I do.
15:49
Oh, hey, and the museum Chronicle spams history with
15:52
interactive exhibits, vintage ads and more memorabilia than
15:55
you might expect for a product that began as a way to move
15:57
surplus pork shoulder. It is fittingly free to enter.
16:01
Yeah. My awesome.
16:02
Favorite museum? Spam has always been Democratic.
16:07
That's funny. Is that so?
16:09
This makes me think of some other prominent highly processed
16:11
foods like Kraft singles. Those.
16:14
Aren't processed. Certainly ain't cheese.
16:17
Lightly. If ever there were a food engine
16:20
neared to slide gracefully into modern life, it's the Kraft
16:25
Single, that square, cellophane wrapped emblem of lunch boxes,
16:31
late night grilled cheese, and the unshakable confidence of mid
16:35
century food science been around forever.
16:37
It's it's not cheddar. No, it's not.
16:39
It does not. Pretend to be cheddar.
16:40
It's a slice that knows exactly what it is, obedient, meltable,
16:43
and ready at a moment's notice. That's funny line.
16:49
That is funny. The saga began with James L
16:52
Kraft in 1916. Kraft patented a method of
16:55
pasteurizing processed cheese so it wouldn't spoil as quickly.
16:59
This was revolutionary. Traditional cheese was
17:02
temperamental. Processed cheese was dependable.
17:05
So Fast forward to 1950, when Kraft introduced individually
17:08
wrapped cheese slices. The innovation wasn't just the
17:10
cheese, it was the packaging. Each slice came in its own neat
17:14
plastic wrapper, making portion control effortless and reducing
17:17
waste. No, hang on a second.
17:20
I don't know, did you reduce waste?
17:22
I guess in the 50s maybe we're reducing.
17:23
I suppose if you didn't yell your cheese it was spoiled.
17:25
Throw it away. That's.
17:26
The waste. It's a wasting food waste, not
17:28
actual. Creating new plastic waste.
17:30
Says, Oh my God, that's a lot. Of and those plastic wrappers
17:33
are still around today I. Guarantee they are.
17:35
In the booming suburban America of the 1950s, convenience wasn't
17:38
just appreciated, it was aspirational.
17:41
Yeah, when, when all that convenience came into the stores
17:45
and stuff and all the canned goods and all that sort of
17:47
thing. Yeah, Yeah.
17:48
Then that's where my mother shopped.
17:49
Mm. Hmm.
17:50
By 1960, the individually wrapped slice had become a
17:53
refrigerator staple. If you opened a fridge in Ohio,
17:57
California, and most points in between, you'd likely find a
18:01
bright orange stack waiting patiently behind the milk.
18:04
Yep. So what exactly is is a craft
18:05
single? I don't know if I want to know.
18:07
I don't. Think anybody knows?
18:08
Legally, and this is important, Craft singles are labeled as
18:11
pasteurized prepared cheese product not.
18:15
Cheese. That's funny.
18:17
The subtle. And good linguistic maneuver has
18:19
fueled decades of dinner table debates.
18:21
Traditional cheese is made from milk cultures and enzymes.
18:24
Kraft singles begin with real cheese, but are blended with
18:27
emulsifying salt and other ingredients to create a product
18:31
that melts smoothly and consistently.
18:33
The emulsifiers prevent the fat and the protein from separating
18:37
when heated, meaning you get that glossy, cohesive melt
18:41
instead of an oily breakdown. So what you're saying is, in
18:43
short, it melts like a dream because it was engineered to do
18:46
so, right? But it still doesn't say exactly
18:48
what kind of cheese is it. No, it's gross what they'd say.
18:52
It's not cheese, OK? The UK, you're right, it didn't
18:55
say what kind of cheese byproduct it is like no like
18:57
what does like I guess American is like cheddar is the flavour
19:00
of cheddar and American is the flavour of American.
19:02
But so here's my deal. So.
19:04
Does an American have a flavour? That's that's that's.
19:07
Are you going there? I'm going there.
19:08
But so we don't buy craft singles.
19:10
We have a lovely little hometown little Creamery, yes.
19:14
Von guards. Von guards.
19:15
And they make American cheese slices which are not shiny.
19:18
They taste way better. They taste much they taste.
19:21
Way better. I mean, I get it, they're still
19:22
processed and the. Process to a point, but
19:25
everything. Is the same they?
19:25
Seem to do a better job. They do a much better job and
19:27
they taste way better. Yeah.
19:28
So nothing against craft. I would agree.
19:29
I grew up on craft but since we've lived here I've only
19:32
bought bonguards and they're phenomenal.
19:33
Yeah, and because, you know, my mother grew up in the 50s, you
19:36
know, I grew up on craft as well.
19:38
Yeah, well, the exact current figures fluctuate.
19:40
Here are some broad stats. Craft sells billions.
19:45
That's the B of slices annually across North America.
19:48
So it's spam, so 9 billion and since it's existence.
19:51
But we can't get the exact number for craft.
19:53
Right. But billions annually.
19:56
Annually. Ohh yeah, you're right.
19:57
Each year that. That's what I'm saying.
19:59
Yeah, that's crazy. It's.
20:00
A crap ton of cheese or cheese byproduct or whatever you wanna.
20:03
Call or whatever it is, the product has been a supermarket
20:06
mainstay for over 75 years in slice form.
20:10
That's crazy, crazy. The brand has introduced variety
20:14
including white American sharp cheddar style and reduced fat.
20:17
Options. Wait, there's options.
20:19
There are, you should go shopping.
20:20
I really should I try not to. In 2015, Kraft removed
20:25
artificial preservatives and flavors from its original
20:27
American slices in response to consumer demand, showing that
20:30
even the most industrial icon can pivot toward modern
20:33
ingredient preferences. That's good.
20:35
So the magic lies in emulsifying cells such as sodium citrate.
20:38
These cells bind calcium in the cheese proteins, allowing them
20:41
to disperse evenly when heated. The result is a melt that's
20:45
smooth rather than stringy or greasy like real cheese.
20:48
But I still like real cheese. Now, you know, So do I.
20:50
So that's why Kraft singles melt quickly, resist separating and
20:54
maintain a creamy texture. And they, I'm sorry, but they
20:56
are yummy. Yeah, you.
20:58
Don't ever want they make a great sandwich.
21:00
They do and everyone. So I just want a quick little
21:01
like bite snack. You don't run in and grab a
21:03
slice of cheese and just chew on the slice of cheese.
21:05
No, a stick of string cheese. I go, I go for the singles.
21:11
It's dairy engineering with a very specific mission to make
21:14
your sandwich behave. Listen to me, I am your boss in
21:19
the 50s and 60s. Processed food, signaled
21:22
progress, owning a freezer, serving TV dinners.
21:24
I miss TV. Oh no.
21:26
Swanson TV dinner. Oh God those are so gross but
21:28
good. We grew up differently.
21:32
You know what? It wasn't even the dinner.
21:33
It was always like the apple. It wasn't even apple pie.
21:35
It was like some apple. Saucy.
21:37
Apple turnover or it wasn't. Even that it was like at
21:39
somewhere like. Apple not crisp.
21:41
Apple not crisp. There you go.
21:43
That was the best part anyway. So I need a freezer.
21:46
Serving TV dinners and stacking plastic wrapped cheese slices in
21:49
your refrigerator meant you were participating in the future.
21:52
Go. Kind of like the Jetsons.
21:53
I was just going to say it. That is too.
21:56
Funny, today's grocery aisle is crowded with natural quote UN
21:59
quote natural sliced cheese that mimic the square format without
22:02
the process label. Competition is fierce.
22:05
Consumers read ingredient lists more carefully than they ever
22:08
did before. Like.
22:09
Me getting Bond cards instead of craft singles.
22:11
That's right. Yeah, Craft singles remain
22:13
resilient. Their brand recognition is
22:15
immense. For many people, they are not a
22:17
substitute for cheese. They are a category unto
22:19
themselves. I would agree.
22:21
Category themselves they are. You don't compare them to aged
22:25
Gouda, that's for sure. But more than that, they carry
22:27
nostalgia. They remind people of after
22:29
school grilled cheese sandwiches, backyard BBQ and
22:32
packed lunches assembled before sunrise.
22:34
Now I do have to say from what? From a grilled cheese.
22:37
I've tried other cheeses. Yeah, just not as good as a an
22:41
American grilled cheese, I don't think.
22:43
I I would agree that the grilled cheese has it, it Kraft singles
22:46
have a flavor. Yes.
22:47
Right. Yes.
22:48
And that's what we grew up on. The grilled cheese is that
22:50
flavor. Yeah.
22:52
But now I do make grilled cheese with three different cheeses and
22:56
it's delicious. It is not craft single flavor.
22:59
OK, so you have to get that out of your mind.
23:01
OK But it's delicious when you use smoked Gouda and some other
23:06
white cheddar things like. That So you should make me a
23:09
grilled cheese sometimes. What I'm Yes, I should.
23:11
Now let me ask you this question.
23:12
This is a very controversial grilled cheese question.
23:14
OK, tomato soup or ketchup. What do you mean the dip?
23:17
What? Do you dip your sandwich in?
23:18
If I'm having a soup with its tomato soup, I don't like
23:21
ketchup at all. No, really, I will eat ketchup
23:24
if I need to. If there's no other condiment
23:26
around, sure, you know, and then you gotta tip your fry because
23:28
it's too dry or too whatever. But it's not my go to.
23:31
It's. What do you normally tip your
23:32
fry in? Mayonnaise.
23:34
Mayonnaise. Mayonnaise and yellow mustard.
23:36
You're a mayonnaise guy. OK, so.
23:38
Did you try it? Mayonnaise and yellow mustard.
23:39
It's amazing. Mayonnaise and ketchup is pretty
23:41
good too. Yeah, I do like mayonnaise and
23:43
ketchup, Yeah. So yeah, but.
23:44
I would do mayonnaise and sriracha.
23:46
So a lot of people think we're weird because, well, yes, we.
23:49
You are OK. In addition to normal being
23:52
weird, people think we're weird because we do grilled cheese and
23:54
tomato soup, and then we also use ketchup to dip our sandwich
23:56
in. Why we don't dip it in the soup?
23:58
We dip it in ketchup. Why would you do that?
24:00
Well, you have to like ketchup. It just.
24:01
Yeah, and it just, it just tastes so good.
24:03
You know, we could do a whole segment on ketchup alone.
24:05
We totally could. Future podcast alert.
24:09
But anyway, yeah, we're talking about Kraft singles.
24:12
Yes, they're not glamorous. No, they're not artisanal.
24:14
No, they are not here to impress the cheesemonger.
24:17
No one impressing with these suckers.
24:18
They are here to melt, and sometimes, in a complicated
24:21
world of aged rhymes and cave aging, a perfect square slice
24:25
that does exactly what it promises feels like, well, quite
24:29
genius. Yeah, I agree.
24:30
Yeah. Now let's talk about hot.
24:32
Dogs. No, I like hot dogs.
24:33
Don't ruin it for me. OK, how about how about Brown
24:36
Schweiger? Oh God.
24:37
Brown Schweiger. Oh, I kind of know what it is.
24:40
I've had it a couple times, but it's.
24:41
Gross, is it? No, no, no.
24:43
OK, so Brown Schweiger so. Back up now what?
24:45
So you don't like spam? Like spam or?
24:49
I don't like. Craft singles.
24:50
You don't. Like craft singles?
24:51
I like craft singles. And I like Brown Schweiger.
24:53
And Stan Brown Schweiger. I like Brown Schweiger.
24:55
How do we get along so well? I don't know because we eat each
24:58
other's scrap food. I don't know.
25:00
Apparently. OK, so Braunschweiger is the
25:03
soft, spreadable, faintly smoky liver sausage that turns humble
25:08
rye bread into something into something bordering the Old
25:13
World. Deliciousness, smoky liver and
25:16
rye bread. You already you lost.
25:17
Me. You see my hands here.
25:19
I'm like, this is delicious. So done, Oh my.
25:22
Traditionally associated with the German city of Braunschweig.
25:26
I didn't know that figure. It's American incarnation is
25:30
typically made from pork liver blended with spices, then smoked
25:34
to give it a little that gentle woodsy depth.
25:37
OK, so that sounds good. Pork.
25:39
Still get the word liver in it. Yeah, it's Pate.
25:42
Oh God no. It's a poor man's Pate.
25:46
The texture is Pate like but sturdier, ideal for slathering
25:51
thickly on top of sharp onions and a swipe of mustard.
25:54
Now I prefer mine with mayonnaise.
25:56
So my dad used to make these growing up as a kid.
25:58
He'd make this with American cheese.
26:00
Best of both worlds right there. There you go, right?
26:02
I refuse to eat them because it's gross.
26:04
No, it's delicious liver. Nutritionally, it's it's rich in
26:07
protein and iron, and culinarily it's a relic of thrift and
26:12
crabs. Definitely a relic.
26:13
Yeah, it is an example of using the whole animal long before
26:18
Nosot Hill became fashionable. I love my food, I don't want to
26:23
know where it comes from. No, no, I don't love it or
26:26
approach it with caution. Braun Schwager remains a smoky
26:30
savor reminder that some of the best flavors arrive in the most
26:33
unusual forms. Debatable.
26:36
Go ahead, give it a try. Nope.
26:39
None of that. So gross.
26:41
So now with all that said, my favorite lunch meat would have
26:44
to be. Spam Bologna.
26:46
Bologna. I love Bologna.
26:48
Do we want to know what's in baloney?
26:50
I don't. It's kind of like all the other
26:52
stuff we just talked about. I don't want to know what's in
26:53
it. I just like it right.
26:55
And it has it. It's not it's not the Oscar
26:57
Mayer baloney that you get in the package that always seems to
26:59
be the same size of the package. And it's like totally round and
27:01
it has a little edges on it from the plastic.
27:04
Yeah, no, we like to go to the deli and get the good below.
27:07
Three slice or no, you get it slice, get it slice.
27:09
Yeah, the good stuff. Good.
27:11
Is there good stuff? I was just gonna.
27:13
Say, it's probably not. It's probably not the same
27:15
thing. But yeah, I don't like the Oscar
27:17
Mart. That does taste.
27:17
So you don't sing. My baloney has a first name,
27:20
It's OSAAR. My baloney has a second name.
27:24
It's Meyer Do. This in a previous podcast.
27:27
We did, yeah. Nostalgia I love.
27:29
It I love it too. Yeah, baloney is good.
27:31
I like that baloney and American cheese.
27:32
Do you ever fried baloney? No.
27:35
No, I've had fried baloney, OK, I I don't, I had a baloney all
27:38
the time as a kid. Yeah, all the time, yeah.
27:40
But then as a a young adult, we would fry it.
27:43
It's much better. So that falls to me out of the
27:46
same world as fried Spam. It's kind of the same thing
27:50
'cause I guarantee there's a lot of like chopped up pork and
27:54
other gutty things in that Bologna.
27:55
Yep, it's probably it. It gets.
27:57
You don't ever want to see this stuff being made.
27:59
No, God no, no, no 0 desire. I'm not into that.
28:02
It's gross. I just keep that crap off
28:04
YouTube. I don't need to see it.
28:06
I could pull some up for you, no?
28:07
We're not doing that. Hey everybody, as always, please
28:09
follow us on the socials that 011 More Thing pod on Facebook
28:12
and Instagram for highlights and news of our upcoming shows.
28:15
And if you have a show idea for us or just want to give us some
28:17
feedback, some great feedback, send us an e-mail at 011 more
28:21
thing pod@gmail.com. You know we would love to hear.
28:23
From you would and we also have. Merch, merch, merch, merch.
28:27
That's like spam, spam, spam, spam, spam.
28:29
Merch. Merch.
28:31
Yeah, we have T-shirts and caps, so if you're interested, shoot
28:33
us an e-mail. We'd love to sell you something.
28:35
Oh, and one more thing. Yeah, in an era obsessed with
28:37
artisanal sourcing and farm to table purity, Spam and craft
28:41
singles will remain unapologetically industrial and
28:44
strangely beloved. Love them both.
28:47
Spam is is not trying to be prosciutto, Nope.
28:50
It is not competing with Wagyu. Nope.
28:53
It is just a small pink brick with global reach and a sense of
28:56
humor. And perhaps that's his greatest
28:59
trick. Spam doesn't pretend to be
29:01
anything other than Spam. It knows it's lame and it stays
29:04
in it. That's right.
29:04
Yes, it does. Bye everybody, Bye.
29:06
Everybody, hey, let's go make a Spam Bologna and American cheese
29:09
sandwich. Gross.