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meat-and-three plate where instead of squeezing in a fourth, there just more gener- ous helpings of the original plate.
To Moss’s credit, he takes the hard way in this book just like he did in the first edition. I was impressed by his research before and he doubled down on that here. He had to piece together countless tales and gives fair consideration to all sides. In this book, he doesn’t assume to make a conclusion for you but instead presents his research and let’s you consider it for your own. Sometimes I’ll read books like this and come away really im- pressed by a certain section or chapter. In this book, I was impressed by all of it, mainly because I can see the hard work that went into every page of it.
As I’d shared earlier, Moss traces the history to Colonial times and walks his readers through its permutations as a crowd gatherer for campaigns and celebrations, through the Civil War, the “Rise of Barbecue Restaurants” and even- tual rise of the home barbecue cook, and onward to the present day. As much as I enjoyed this book the first time, I’ve enjoyed it even more the second time. If you didn’t get a copy of it then, now is the time to pick one up. If you do have the first edition, maybe gift that to someone and get yourself the newest edition.
Tell me what food has been saddled with more undeserved derision than Spam? We’ve stolen its brand name and ap- plied it as the label for email we don’t want and who can forget the unfair thrashing Spam got at the hands of that English comedy troupe Monty Python. I’m pretty sure there’s two thoughts in reaction to my opening sentences: 1) I never eat Spam and don’t have a problem with all this, and 2) I love Spam, eat it frequently, and AGREE! (I’m in group 2).
My appeal to you is give Spam another chance, but instead of opening a can and unceremoniously dumping it on a plate, instead try some of the inventive recipes presented in “The Ultimate Spam Cookbook: 100+ Quick and Deli- cious Recipes from Traditional to Gourmet” by the Hormel Foods Kitchen ($12.99, Fox Chapel Publishing, 144 pp.).
Spam has been around since before World War II but out-
side of the Hawaiian Islands perhaps has not been getting its due. To be honest, I was a bit dismissive of it until a Hawaiian friend went on about how his favorite break- fast was Loco Moco (page 18 in the book). He got me to try it and I have to admit it changed my attitude on it. But my culinary endeavors with Spam were mostly lim- ited to Spam and eggs; that is, until this book presented me with ideas for dishes like Pulled Spam BBQ Sandwich, Spam Corn Dogs and Spam Kabobs. You’ll soon be like me and stocking up on those blue cans of goodness.
I wanted to end on a quick note to let everyone know we’ll be naming our annual Barbecue News Magazine Book of the Year Award hon- oree next month. It’s certainly been a different year in pub-
lishing, some of it spurred by the continued change in media but I also took note of how the industry reacted to the pandemic. We’ve been handing out this honor since 2007 when we named Ray Lampe’s “Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Road Trip” as our first winner. It is incredible how the books have evolved over time, including more graphics and pictures as well as rolling in online features to support the printed book. Savvy authors and publishers build tribes, to take a term from business books author Seth Godin, and continue to appeal to them through a multimedia approach that lasts long after the last page is turned in the book. I’m looking forward to telling you about the best of the best once again next month. In the meantime, be safe and healthy.
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