20041005

guam ♥s SPAM

a couple of months ago, reid at ono kine grindz posted a photo of the very fabulous limited edition hawaiian SPAM can. hawaii has the greatest SPAM consumption of the states (6 cans per person), but scarily, guam beats that by 45% more per person.



in honour of such a dubious distinction, not only does guam have its own limited edition can, but it also has it's own flavour, the hot and spicy SPAM. yeah, i know, there's hot and spicy in other places, but as shawn radford, museum curator (!) for the official SPAM museum puts it:

"We actually make (a) particular can just for Guam, that's called hot and spicy. We do have a hot and spicy can that's sold in the U.S. However, hot and spicy made for Guam is really hot and really spicy," says Radford.

oh yeah, shawn, work that description there (btw, guam also has the highest per capita consumption of tabasco, roughly 4oz of sauce for every man, woman, child, baby, dog and turtle). i honestly can't tell you how spicy it is, but dang, it is enough to be inedible to some. i am guessing that it would be the equivalent amount of heat in a 2 oz. bottle of the stuff. haaaaaaht.



on the back of the can is a recipe for fried rice from a popular local diner, shirley's. this incensed some of the other dining establishments so much, they refused to serve the processed meat loaf altogether (didn't last long, although they still don't serve the spicy version).



i bought this rather fetching SPAM purse during my recent shopping spree at the abc store. it contains one can of spicy, one of garlic, a commemorative one, and a bumper sticker to boot. i don't know if it's a popular gift with tourists, but locals love it. claire, who is back on holiday, is bringing one back for a mainland guammie who specifically asked for guam SPAM. is there a difference? maybe with the meat, but definitely with the can.



this limited edition can commemorates SPAM's role in guam's liberation from japanese forces during world war 2. hm. perhaps as...ammo? as you can see, not as cute as the hawaiian one, but there's a cute carabao on the can. *on*, not in.

16 comments:

I've been trying to get my dad to send me a can of the Hot Guam Spam, since it came out, probably last year, or something. Now that I know Shirley's fried rice is on it...shoot. I'm callin him right now. What time is it over there? Hehehe.

LATE! hey, the can matches your kitchen :-)

Ohhhh yeah...good call! Even more of a reason. Now I need two cans! One for eat, one for display.

or two to eat, two for display ;-)

Hi Santos,

Nice can of Spam! =) I actually had no idea that Guam consumed that much of it. Scary indeed! I'm dying to try this hot and spicy, and I think I've seen it on the shelves here. I'll let you know what I think. By the way, do they sell the Spam with bacon in Guam yet?

hey reid

hm, maybe hormel santa will leave something hot and loafy in your stocking this holiday.....

hafa dude.

man spam's price are way higher in florida, i used to buy them at dededo's bunnymarket, for about $1.00~1.50, here in state these spam cans run like $2.00 to 2.50, this is crazy

dude, the prices are getting higher. when it's not on sale it's $1.79, but it's usually on sale somewhere. and a lot of times if you buy 6 cans you get spam zoris thrown in for free!

spent 2 years in Guam and LOVE Guam Spam and Shirley's rice. Is there a store in Nevada whereI can buy "Guam Spam"?

I'm looking to get a couple of cans of the Guam Hot & Spicy and the WWII cans. Rumor has it that the ABC grocery store in Guam sells it, but I haven't been able to find out if they ship to the US or not. Anyone out there willing to help me out will be handsomely rewarded!

Dave

hi dave! the ww2/liberation day cans are gone; they were just a limited edition item a couple of years ago. i don't know if the hot and spicy SPAM made especially for guam is still available; it had a recipe for fried rice from a local diner on the back--all the new cans seem to have a generic american background. i'll check next time i'm at the shops, see if the local hot and spicy is still available.

it's really hot umbee!
but good if you haf a cold!
wif eggs and biskit and a ice
cold glass of carabao milk, it's the
best brickfast!


esta later -
senator mark jaquette
(of alupang island/guam)

aka - bammgraphics

Hi,
I found this site while trying to find info on the liberation can of spam...anyway, where can I get a few cans. I sent a pic to my friends on facebook(all from Guam) but live in states now, and they love it!
Peg W.
N.C.

sadly, i think the cans all sold out that year (2004 was when this post was published). i don't know how long a can of SPAM lasts, but i think 6 years might be past its expiration date if you manage to find one on ebay.

I need to get the island spam and the liberation spam from guam. Cant get it here in california. If anyone in guam or elsewhere can get these for me PLEASE contact me. My email is bigtroylee@gmail.com so we can talk. Thank You so much......Troy

troy, the liberation spam has been discontinued for awhile now, maybe 8 years?? but i think the island spam might still be around. next time i'm at a store, i'll check. good luck!