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Spam jam: Hawaii food festival explores the wonders of canned meat

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The new Portuguese sausage flavoured Spam.Photo: AP

In Hawaii, Spam rules. No, not the kind that you get in your email, but the kind you eat.

To honour Spam lovers in Hawaii, Hormel Foods released a new flavour — Portuguese sausage Spam — exclusively for the state at a street festival on Saturday in Honolulu. The flavour may eventually be sold elsewhere in the region and internationally, the company says.

Spam was introduced by Hormel in 1937. The history behind the salty luncheon meat in Hawaii goes back to the second world war when the company started shipping it to military personnel stationed in the islands. Spam did not need to be refrigerated, so it could be shipped to the state without spoiling during the long journey from the mainland.

Spam quickly cross-pollinated from the military population into the local diet, and its popularity has grown ever since.

Now, Spam can be found pretty much everywhere that serves food in Hawaii: gas stations, local markets, diners and even in fast-food chains such as McDonald's and Burger King.

Fried Spam and eggs is a staple breakfast combo in the state, but people here eat it for lunch and dinner as well. In fact, people in Hawaii eat more Spam than any other state in the nation, consuming nearly seven million cans per year, according to the Hormel website.

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