Regarding Spam [May 1], is it true, as travel writer Paul Theroux claims, that the people of the South Pacific love their Spam because it tastes so much like…people? –Mary E. Sage, via the Internet
Let’s start with the facts, then segue to the rumors. Spam is one of the favorite foods of Pacific islanders, including Hawaiians, who consume it in vast quantities and consider it a delicacy. This offends the upper-middle-class sensibilities of some writers, who consider Spam emblematic of all that is vile about Western culture. For example, in The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks writes about the fare served during his visit to the island of Pingelap:
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(1) Yes, it was a joke.
Still, let’s concede one point to Theroux. Does Spam taste corpsy? Of course it tastes corpsy–it’s meat. We’re just arguing about the identity of the deceased.
