Bites and Sips: Spamming the Market, Plus Edible Beer

1Spam Redux

Along with pizza, Spam was a dining-at-home superstar during the COVID shutdown. Bloomberg reported that sales of the canned meat surged 70 percent in the early months of the pandemic, driven by its moderate price, convenience and shelf-stability. While this may seem like a dramatic comeback for a nearly 100-year-old brand, in some quarters its popularity has never flagged.

Introduced by the Hormel Corporation in the 1930s, Spam was intended to boost the sale of pork shoulder, its primary component. It became a cornerstone of American kitchens during World War II and a portable protein source for the American military, which introduced it to Hawaii and took it across the South Pacific and into Asia, where it has remained a staple in many local cuisines.

If it received a second wind during the pandemic, it is enjoying another substantial tailwind as an essential ingredient in some of the fastest-growing cuisines on menus.

It is a standard at King’s Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant in Torrance, Calif., where it sits atop the Hawaiian Eggs Benedict, is offered as a breakfast side and stars in the musubi appetizer, a popular standard that comprises Spam, rice and teriyaki sauce wrapped in nori. At L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, which boasts nearly 70 units across the Hawaiian islands, Spam Saimin features the meat in the comforting local version of ramen, while the Waffle-wich at Seattle’s Vietnamese-American Café Opla partners it with egg and cheese, served between two sweet waffles. And Nashville’s long-running Hai Woon Dai Korean Soul Food & BBQ nods to the product’s history: The Budae Jjigae, or Army Stew, is a Korean-American mash-up made with hot dogs, Spam, tofu, kimchi and noodles in a spicy sauce.

It has also served as inspiration for do-it-yourself chefs, as at Piglet & Co, San Francisco’s lauded Taiwanese operation, where a housemade version takes the title role in “Spam” & Rice, made with short-grain furikake rice.

2Glam Spam

Perhaps more interesting is Spam’s appearance on non-island bills of fare, like the recent limited-time offer at Dog Haus, where the Aloha Soopah Slider combined fried Spam with potato tots, chile crunch, furikake, scrambled eggs and maple Sriracha. In Northern California, Loop Neighborhood Market, a 60-unit chain of convenience stores, rolled out Spam Musubi, an on-the-go item that has reportedly been a big hit. And this summer, Spam made its fourth appearance at Rutter’s convenience stores headquartered in York, Penn. The current promotion runs through October and spans dayparts with eight options like a breakfast burrito, mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwich.

Speaking of recurring promotions, Spam pops up on occasion at Geordie’s Restaurant & Lounge in the historic Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix. The operation is named for the home’s late owner and Hormel scion Geordie Hormel, who inspired the Spam Cubano that subs griddled Spam for ham and plates it with homemade chips in a cute Spam tin.

Spam has become an unlikely jumping-off point for culinary invention at many restaurants in Chicago. At Mano Modern Cafe, Pan De Slider-Spam is made with Spam, pan de sal, fried egg, American cheese and Pinoy bang bang sauce; at Wake ‘N Bacon, the Maui WOWie includes Hawaiian bread, Spam, Tajín-spiced grilled pineapple, chipotle mayo and a scrambled egg; and at Stuffed Catering, the rotating international menu has featured a fun, mashed-up Spam Banh Mi Bao.

Chicago’s shuttered Mahalo combined beef, pork and Spam in its signature Meatballs, while Bottlefork dished up “Spam & Jack” that put homemade Spam, jack cheese and giardiniera on toasted pretzel bread.

Smart money says that Spam will continue its upward growth trajectory. Musubi’s growing menu presence (it was recently featured in Flavors on the Edge)and strong resemblance to sushi all but guarantee a built-in boost. Plus, its hipster, retro-cool vibes clearly have the potential to take social media platforms by storm.

3Edible Beer

Credit: RAM Restaurant & Brewery

In addition to its beer cheese fondue, RAM Restaurant & Brewery infuses its signature pizza crusts with house-brewed Big Horn Hefeweizen and spent grain from its Big Red Ale.

While Oktoberfest still bears the name of the month in which it originated in Munich in 1810, over time it has been moved to September to take advantage of warmer weather and longer days, a shift that may have presaged the contemporary moveable feast that is pumpkin spice latte and its kindred beverages.

Many casual-dining restaurants celebrate the season with autumnal beer promotions. TGI Fridays, for example, has featured Samuel Adams Octoberfest Beer. Operators with brewing credentials like Gordon Biersch naturally spotlight their own quaffs, as with the chain’s Märzen, a traditional lager that remains the official brew of Munich’s annual beer bash.

While Einstein Bros. Bagels is offering a limited-time Oktoberfest Egg Sandwich that adds a new Beer Cheese Schmear to a toasted pretzel bagel, for many menu developers, beer offers a seasonless opportunity to amp up both flavor and merchandisability. The Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup at Chancery Pub & Restaurant is made with Local Ale and Merkt Cheese and is a long-running, yearlong fixture at the four-unit, Milwaukee-based operation.

Beer and cheese are natural partners, and at BJ’s Restaurants and Brewhouse, the Big Twist Pretzel with Beer Cheese is made with the chain’s Brewhouse Blonde and honey-dijon mustard. Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom goes the premium-brand route: The mustard beer-cheese sauce with Bavarian Pretzel Sticks is made with Guinness.

Pacific Northwest micro-chain RAM Restaurant & Brewery does a fun change-up. Here, the Pretzel & Beer Cheese Fondue is made with the brand’s award-winning Buttface Amber Ale and provides a double-barreled opportunity to both showcase the house brew and also tap into the super-hot rip-and-dip trend.

And a special tip of the mug must go to RAM, where the Beer-Crust Pizza menu is notable for its smart ingredient selection. The crust is made with house-brewed Big Horn Hefeweizen, which enhances both flavor and texture, and Big Red’s spent beer grain, as well as Northwest-sourced Napoletana flour, housemade sauce with Stanislaus tomatoes and whole-milk mozzarella. All are standard components of the four signature pies and represent savvy upgrades that elevate the quality and memorability of the final product.