From pandemic to Spamdemic: How a running joke led to Wichita area’s newest cook-off
A running joke born at a Haysville church during the COVID-19 lockdown has become the inspiration for a cook-off contest featuring America’s favorite — or least favorite — canned meat.
SPAM!
It all started last spring in the early days of the COVID pandemic when churches, businesses and schools were shut down to flatten the trajectory of rising coronavirus cases. Pastor Chris Bray of the Prairie Trail Cowboy Church in Haysville started a weekly livestream question-and-answer session to keep connected with his congregants.
“It was getting pretty heavy one night,” he said. “There was really no end in sight, it was kind of gloomy.”
And that’s when he turned the pandemic into a Spamdemic.
“For some reason, the pantry door was open and there was a can of Spam,” he said. “So I just went over and I grabbed it and I put it in front of the camera and said, ‘You know, we’re gonna talk about this.’
“I was like that’s about as controversial as anything you can get. You either love it or you hate it.”
Spam turned out to be a surprisingly popular topic and kept getting brought up week after week.
“It became this running joke and the next thing you know, I started to do Spam cooking demonstrations during this livestream Q and A,” he said. “I’ve got this apron now that’s got Spam all over it.
“We even have a mascot up on the pulpit, it’s kind of crazy. It’s a can of Spam with arms and legs. We call him Spammy. It’s a stuffed animal kind of thing somebody found somewhere.”
That led to the idea for the church to host a Spam cook-off for the congregation and the community.
“Spam has become, it’s kind of this outlet for us, I guess,” Bray said.
But if you want to establish any credibility at all in the larger world of Spam cook-offs, (reporter’s note: I checked and there actually is such a thing) you don’t just do any old kind of Spam cook-off.
Enter Cowboy Church parishioner Bonnie Boys.
She’s an experienced judge for major barbecue cook-offs held by the Kansas City Barbecue Society and she agreed to coordinate the church’s Spam-a-rama.
Since it’s an inaugural event, there’s only really one unbreakable rule this year. You can pre-prep your ingredients but all cooking has to be done on site. Grill, pellet smoker, burner or hot-plate, it’s your choice, Boys said.
Judging will follow the procedures you may have seen on TV barbecue shows. The culinary creations will be submitted in identical styro boxes and contestants will pick a number to randomize the entries, so the six judges won’t know whose Spam cuisine they’re evaluating.
Although COVID has slowed down, it’s not over yet and is still casting something of a shadow on the contest. The cook-off is being held outdoors, mask-optional, and contestant booths will be set up with an eye toward social distancing.
For pandemic safety, there won’t be any ticket-for-a-taste sampling. Any informal sharing is up to the individual contestants. It’s not encouraged, but it’s not forbidden either, Boys said.
“We have told the entrants that if they want to share their cooking with others that we do not care,” she said. “That’s up to them as long as they stay within the COVID guidelines, wear gloves and things like that.”
Boys said she’s already heard about some exotic gourmet spamming that people have in mind.
“Yesterday, I had a gentleman who actually lived in Hawaii and if you know anything about Hawaii, that’s Spam country,” she said. “And so he is bringing a recipe that is almost like a Spam sandwich and it’s wrapped in seaweed.”
He may be onto something. Called Spam Musubi, it’s a variant of sushi that is a popular snack in the islands and a 4 1/2 star recipe on spam.com.
“I know we’re going to see some jambalaya, I know we’re going to see some mac and cheese,” she said. “There’s a Spam monkey bread that someone might try.”
Just in case watching people cook Spam for a couple of hours turns out not to be as entertaining as it sounds, the church will also have lawn games for adults and children, she said.
She agrees with her pastor that the church’s fixation on Spam helped uplift its people through a rough patch.
“We’ve had so much fun with this,” she said. “It kind of got our minds off, you know, shutdowns and everything else. It just made people laugh through all this and I think that’s a good thing.”
But contrary to Bray’s belief that Spam is a love it or hate it thing, Boys is like Switzerland when it comes to the unending argument over whether it’s a delicacy or an atrocity.
In fact, she can’t remember ever tasting it before she took on the job of cook-off coordinator.
“I’ll be honest, I haven’t eaten a lot of Spam, so I can’t tell you,” she said. “But I’m getting there, OK?”
The cooking contest will be held on May 15 at the church, 8552 S Broadway St., Haysville. Cooking begins at 9 a.m. with judging at 11.
Aspiring Spam chefs can sign up online at www.eventbrite.com.
The cost to participate is $15 for church members and $30 for nonmembers, with a $5 discount if payment is made by April 1.
