World Series of Spam

Resslin' Around by Casey Ressler

Take the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and the Stanley Cup playoffs, add a little Spam and you have the atmosphere Spam recipe contest at the Alaska State Fair.

Well, not exactly. But almost. The feeling is almost electric, however, as people dressed in Spam T-shirts and camouflage Spam hats jockey to make sure their dishes are displayed properly.

The Best Spam Recipe contest at the Alaska State Fair is always a highlight, especially if you are a judge. This year -- my ninth -- I was joined by Jackie Purcell of weather fame and Mr. Whitekeys, of, well, Spam fame, to judge the entries at the fair. I prepared just like a world-class athlete would -- by eating a bratwurst beforehand, and sucking down a No Fear energy drink immediately following.

This year, every entry was good, a nice contrast to previous contests in which there were one or two dishes that were tough to stomach. There was a nice Spam smoked salmon dip, some cajun rolls and even a nice relish dish.

Fred Kohli of Anchorage won the contest with "Viva La Spam," a fantastic mix of garlic, peppers and Spam. He 'plated' his recipe with ornate Mexican decorations, adding to the culinary delight.

Viva La Spam was good enough that you could serve it as an appetizer, and nobody would have a clue that the main ingredient is Spam.

After 11 entries were sampled, the champion was crowned and the crowd started sampling the dishes.

At the time, I thought everyone was a winner in the contest -- there was fun for all, some free Spam T-shirts and beach balls were given away, and all of the dishes were good.

It wasn't until four or five hours later, however, that I found out the only loser in the competition was my stomach, as it tossed and turned, keeping me up all night. Clearly it was the energy drink -- there's no way bratwurst or Spam can upset this Warrior's stomach.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor and official Spam connoisseur.