M'm! M'm! Good!

WOW!

We thought we hit the top of the curve (or, the bottom, depending on how you look at it), when we posted the detailed view of Spam (the kind you eat), back last November.

Meg Marco, over on The Consumerist posted this yesterday;

The "Worst Food Product Ever" May Have Been Found

Pork Brains In Milk Gravy. Could it be the worst food product ever? It does have 1170% of your daily cholesterol per serving. Mmmm

Can you imagine working on the production line of this place?

But wait, there is a competitor to Armour!

Rose Brand Pork Brains w/ Milk Gravy (5 oz.)

And they all belong (including Spam) in a category that's called "Potted Meat Food Products"

And there is a "Tribute Page" to such!

The Potted Meat Food Product Tribute Page

A Call To Armour

Fairly soon, however, the line was picked up by a representative named Bob. I told him I had some questions about one of their products, specifically, Potted Meat Food Product.

"Go ahead," Bob said. There was no fear or hesitation in his voice; I could tell that he was well-versed in Potted Meat Food Product lore.

"Okay," I said, "One of the ingredients is listed as `partially defatted cooked pork fatty tissue'. What exactly is partially defatted fatty tissue?"

"Well," Bob replied, "There's a certain amount of tissue that holds fat. This tissue has the fat rendered out of it, and it's used for flavoring and seasoning." He further compared it to "cracklins", which I've seen in the supermarket. They frighten me.

"Okay, my next question is, since Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue is the only one specifically labeled as being cooked, does that mean that the other ingredients aren't cooked?"

"Oh, no," he assured me, "it's all cooked before it goes into the can."

Okay, there you go ... You can run out to the supermarket and get your choice Potted Meat product, because "it's all cooked before it goes into the can."



And there is, not necessarily so suprising, a Wikipedia entry for it;

Cultural consumption

In the Southern United States, canned pork brain in gravy can be purchased for consumption as food. This form of brain is often fried with scrambled eggs to produce the famous "Eggs n' Brains".[1] They are part of the menu in many family owned restaurants throughout the region.

The brain of animals also features in French cuisine, in dishes such as cervelle de veau and tête de veau.

Similar delicacies from around the world include Mexican tacos de sesos made with cattle brain as well as squirrel brain in the US South.[2] The Anyang tribe of Cameroon practiced a tradition in which a new tribal chief would consume the brain of a hunted gorilla while another senior member of the tribe would eat the heart.[3] Indonesian cuisine specialty in Minangkabau cuisine also served beef brain in a gravy coconut milk named gulai otak (beef brain curry). Roasted or fried goat brain is eaten in the south of India and some parts of northern India. In Cuban cuisine, "brain fritters" made by coating pieces of brain with bread crumbs and then frying them.

In India, certain restaurants serve brain as bheja fry, literally brain fry. It's cooked in its own fat along with standard base used in curry.

And, what are the risk of such culinary treats?

Fat and cholesterol

Consuming the brain and other nerve tissue of animals is not without risks. The first problem is that the makeup of the brain is 60% fat due to large quantities of myelin (which itself is 70% fat) insulating the axons of neurons.[4] As an example, a 140 g can of "pork brains in milk gravy", a single serving, contains 3500 milligrams of cholesterol, 1170% of the USRDA.[5]

We'll be waiting, probably coming out in the World Weekly News, of the first "suicide by pork brains in milk gravy".

Or a Reality Show.

Bonus Riffs

Forget About Tuesday, Cash On The Barrelhead Today, Wimpy!

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Top Ten Cloves: Ways Spinach Industry Plans To Overcome E. Coli Setback

Top Ten Cloves: Possible Problems Julia Child Had As An OSS Spy

Clinton Joins Food Pyramid Protest ... Says Won't Deter Child Obesity; Poll Shows Public Prefers The Sphinx

Egypt Protests New U.S. Use of Pyramids ... Says Mocking Historic Culture and Islam; Call for American Food Boycott

Spam-A-Lot ...The Eating Kind!

No, were not writing to advocate eating the popular Broadway musical.

Andrew Martin, in today's NYT, has an engaging article on Spam, the kind from the Hormel Company, up in Austin, Minnesota.



Seems, while the crashing economy is bad for Wall Street, people with stocks and 401K's, mortgages, it's Boom Time for the makers of Spam.

Almost unlimited overtime, a work schedule with only Thanksgiving and Christmas off, which goes to produce "149,950 cans of Spam on the day shift".

That be some serious amounts of Spam.

Spam Turns Serious and Hormel Turns Out More

Spam, a gelatinous 12-ounce rectangle of spiced ham and pork, may be among the world’s most maligned foods, dismissed as inedible by food elites and skewered by comedians who have offered smart-alecky theories on its name (one G-rated example: Something Posing As Meat).

Because it is vacuum-sealed in a can and does not require refrigeration, Spam can last for years. Hormel says “it’s like meat with a pause button.”

Invented during the Great Depression by Jay Hormel, the son of the company’s founder, Spam is a combination of ham, pork, sugar, salt, water, potato starch and a “hint” of sodium nitrate “to help Spam keep its gorgeous pink color,” according to Hormel’s Web site for the product.

“There are all kinds of people who have an emotional connection to Spam,” said Gil Gutknecht Jr., the former Minnesota congressman, who was in the gift shop at the Spam Museum buying a Spam tie, sweatshirt and earrings. Mr. Gutknecht recalled that he once served as a judge in a Spam recipe contest.

“The best thing was Spam brownies,” he said, with more or less a straight face.

OMG!

I just can conceive using Spam as an ingredient for some other food item.

No ... No ... That does not work for me.

Check it out - Spam Turns Serious and Hormel Turns Out More


And remember, it is not to be confused with "Green Eggs and Ham", which you may like, in bog, covered with fog, sitting on a log, guarded by a dog, reading this blog.

And, speaking of Monty Python, we would be remiss without posting this, as well;

Monty Python - Spam