SPAM Meets the Big Mac

Last week gave us National SPAM Day. Then, just a couple of days later, came National Big Mac Day.

While thinking about National Big Mac Day, I remembered something that people on the mainland may not know.

SPAM is a huge part of the food culture in Hawaii, and McDonald’s restaurants throughout the Islands have embraced it for years. You’ll find SPAM on breakfast platters with eggs and rice, and at many locations it can also be substituted on selected breakfast sandwiches. So while McDonald’s has never offered a SPAM Big Mac, SPAM has had a place on the McDonald’s menu in Hawaii for many years.

Flying to Hawaii just to pick up breakfast from McDonald’s didn’t seem especially practical.

So I decided to bring a little Hawaii into my own kitchen.

Instead of changing the Big Mac, I wondered what would happen if I simply added SPAM to it. Not replacing the famous beef patties. Just adding two slices of pan-fried SPAM to each burger.

I started with three regular Big Macs. Then I pan-fried six slices of SPAM and added two slices to each burger, leaving the original Big Mac exactly as McDonald’s intended while adding a little Hawaiian inspiration.

Then it was time for the part I know best.

The three burgers moved in front of my camera and became the latest addition to my Food From Bag To Backgroundfast food photography project. Against my very black black background, the sesame seed buns, melted cheese, lettuce, beef patties, and SPAM came together exactly as I had envisioned.

The SPAM story isn’t over yet. There is one more stop on this journey through Hawaii’s favorite canned meat.

Next… SPAM Musubi.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!