Family is canned meat's dynasty

Resslin' Around by Casey Ressler

Forget Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, Reggie Jackson's Yankees or Joe Montana's 49ers. The latest dynasty belongs to the Kohli family.

Who's that, you ask? Why, the Kohli family is simply unbeatable when it comes to preparing canned meat. Brother and sister Fred and Theresa Kohli are Spam champions, and a quick check of Monday's Alaska State Fair results only confirms the fact - Fred took first place with his Coconut Yam CriSPAM recipe, while Theresa took second with her Spamangoes.

For the 11th year in a row, I judged the Spam recipe contest at the fair. And don't tell the Hormel folks, but it's the only time of the year I really eat Spam. My first year, contest organizers came to the office with a list of competitions, including things like pies, cakes and breads. I signed up for Spam, simply because it sounded a whole lot more creative than cakes. And I was right.

This year I was joined by Alaska Job Corps chef Michael Graham and KTUU's Jackie Purcell. The three of us judged the dishes based on their originality, their appearance and, of course, the taste.

There were fantastic dishes prepared by Spam aficionados, from bagel Spam bites to Spam masala. But when the canned meat settled, there was no doubt the dishes prepared by the two Kohlis stood apart.

This is the fourth year Fred has won the competition, in addition to four runner-up

finishes.

&#8220Last year I couldn't compete because I won it the year before,” he said as he basked in his Spam glory Monday night. &#8220It's just something my family has always done.”

The entries are never marked with the names of the chefs, but there was no doubt in my mind that I was tasting a Kohli creation when I sampled both dishes. They were ranked high on appearance, and as always, highly original. Before I sampled them, I was hoping the taste measured up to their already high marks on my scoresheet.

Sure enough, they both packed a lot of flavor - and Spam - into each bite.

I do have one confession that I hope doesn't start any family arguments. I had Fred's dish as my second favorite, and his sister's as my top dish. Her Spamangoes included Spam, gorgonzola cheese, fresh mangoes and fresh mint. It was like canned heaven on a fillo shell. Fred's dish was darn near as good, using coconut, cranberries, apples, brown sugar, cream cheese and sweet potatoes, among many other ingredients, to come up with a fantastic taste.

Each year, I look forward to the competition to see the creativity of people like Fred and Theresa Kohli. And each year, I get asked what the secret to winning the competition is.

Don't ask me. A good Spam judge will never tell you what works and what doesn't. If you really want to know, you better ask Fred. He's the man who knows a thing or two about winning. I'm just the guy dumb enough to voluntarily eat that much Spam in one night, 11 years in a row.

Casey Ressler (valleylife

@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor. His stomach is still tossing and turning.