Spam salute

PHOTO BY GEORGE F. LEE GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DAVE SWANN DSWANN@STARBULLETIN.COM Waikiki Spam Jam Street festival: 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday Place: Kalakaua Avenue, from Seaside Avenue to the Moana Surfrider Featuring: Two stages of entertainment, craft and food booths, and Spam memorabilia. Admission: Free

This weekend, we in Hawaii prove that, yes indeed, we know our fine food. It's time again for the Waikiki Spam Jam, that annual celebration of the lovable luncheon meat, the squishy pink log, the cultural icon.

With "Spamalot," the musical, just opened and burning up Broadway, Spam is enjoying a surge in national interest that just might alleviate our reputation for looniness in allowing our shores to become so Spam-infested.

Might, but probably won't.

We don't care. More than 20,000 celebrants are expected to cheer the glory of Spam along Kalakaua Avenue. They'll have their choice of luncheon-meat-infused foods (consider, from the Radisson Prince Kuhio Hotel, Reconstructed Spam Chicken Cordon Bleu with Sherry Cream Sauce).

And to top it off, they will crown Hawaii's first Mr. or Ms. Spam, from among five finalists chosen for their ideas for a Spam commercial. The winner will be named based on online voting through Friday at www.hawaiian105.com or www.kccnfm100.com (click on "contests").

This weekend's focus on Spam cuisine allows for a bit of promotional effort on behalf of three cookbooks and three worthy causes. Conveniently, they all include interesting approaches to the luncheon meat of the week, so the timing is good.

The cookbooks are fund-raising projects for three school organizations: Roosevelt High School's music department, Moanalua High School's 2006 Project Graduation and Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus.

The cookbook has become a favorite mode of fund-raising these days. If you have a school-age child, chances are you will not see graduation before you are called upon to contribute recipes and buy or sell cookbooks.

I speak from experience here. In the years my kids have been in school, I've had a part in three cookbooks. The first two times my role was peripheral, but last year I offered to do my part for my daughter's graduating class and took on the typesetting for Moanalua's Project Grad cookbook.

It gave me a clear idea of the huge amount of work that goes into one of these.

The real heavy lifting with our cookbook was done by committee chair Jenny Crippen, who collected the 300-plus recipes, sorted them and parceled them out to be edited. Now she's figuring out how to market the book. (Speaking of which, lest anyone think Moanalua is getting special treatment here, let it be known that if you have a cookbook, you can send it here. As long as your recipes and your cause are good ones, we'll find you a space on these pages.)

A Project Graduation celebration is a supremely costly affair -- the Moanalua committee is looking to raise $50,000. Several thousand has been collected since the kids were sophomores, through car washes and other fund-raisers, but the cookbook is being relied upon for the bulk of that cash.

The cookbooks featured here follow the typical approach: Recipes are contributed by kids, parents and friends, perhaps a few celebrities. Anything goes (the Moanalua cookbook even has a recipe for baby wipes).

This makes them a great go-to source for practical local-style cooking -- the kind of stuff you're not going to find in slick, professional cookbooks.

Whatever they may lack in polish, they make up for in sheer enthusiasm, which is reflected in the public's willingness to buy them.

The Roosevelt High School music department is currently selling its third cookbook and has only 100 copies left of a printing of 1,000. Dianne Imamura headed up production of the last two volumes, which have earned $6,000 to $7,000 to help fund student travel.

She's already thinking about Volume 4. "There are a lot of people who collect cookbooks," she says. "And because it's a fund-raiser for the band, they're not hard to sell."

---

Benefit cookbooks have been released by the Kamehameha Schools and Moanalua and Roosevelt high schools. The breaded Spam sticks are from Moanalua's "Local Style."

---

Benefit cookbooks
offer Spam recipes

Cost is $12. The book will be sold at the school's craft fair May 7.

E-mail pg06@hawaii.rr.com (that's p-g-zero-six, not a capital O) for mail-order information. Postage is an additional $3.

Combine panko and furikake in a shallow dish.

Dredge Spam in flour; shake off excess. Dip in egg, then in panko mixture.

Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

"Musical Delight of Favorite Family Recipes" will help fund the Roosevelt High School orchestra's trip to Anaheim, Calif., this spring.

It sells for $10. E-mail rhsmusicboosters@yahoo.com to arrange for pick-up or delivery. Mail order costs $2 more. Just 100 copies are left.

Fry Spam until browned. Add sauce to pan and simmer until liquid is absorbed.

Place two nori squares in bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan. Top with half the rice and press down to make an even layer. Sprinkle furikake over rice, then top with the Spam. Spread remaining rice over Spam and press down. Sprinkle with furikake and top with 2 more nori sheets. Cut into rectangles.

the "Ohana Cookbook" benefits the Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus' mainland tour in June.

The books will be sold for $15 at the Ho'olokahi Festival on campus Friday.

To order by mail, send $19 to Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus, 225 Bishop Circle, Honolulu 96817.

Fry Spam until crisp. Pour sauce into pan. Turn Spam pieces several times in sauce. Simmer until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

Place a nori sheet on cutting board. Place a musubi maker in middle of nori. Fill with rice and press. Top with 2 pieces of Spam. Remove mold and fold nori tightly over the Spam and rice. Repeat with remaining nori and Spam.

With a wet knife, cut each musubi in half. Dip the ends of each half in furikake.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Send queries to "By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813. Send e-mail to: betty@starbulletin.com

Seeking a modern
musubi champion

Note that this contest is NOT part of the Spam Jam, but merely takes advantage of the attention that the street fair generates.

You don't even have to use Spam in your musubi, although the rectangular shape of the Spam musubi is our model.

The best recipes will be published May 25, in time for Memorial Day picnics.