Ration books, spivs peddling nylons and Spam. Only one of these fixtures of wartime life is being added to a new, controversial pizza coming to a table near you soon.
Nell’s, which sells its giant 22-inch pizzas from The Beagle in Chorlton and Nell’s New York Pizza and Bar in town, has decided to introduce a new limited-run pie, dubbed the Honolulu Heatwave. It features a potentially volatile list of toppings.
There’s Tabasco Sriracha, Tabasco Sweet and Spicy, ginger and pineapple jam, spring onions, smoked Lancashire cheese and, of course, crispy Spam. The pizza will be available from today (October 6) until November 20.
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To help launch the pizza, the NY Pizza and Bar branch at Kampus, across the water from Canal Street, is having a party with DJs and a £100 gift card giveaway to spend on food and drinks. It all kicks off today (Thursday, October 6) from 4pm, with happy hour running from 4pm to 7pm and margaritas at £6 all night.
Though heartily adopted by the UK, Spam was in fact invented in the US in 1937 by the Hormel Foods Corporation, using cuts of pork shoulder and ham. It was picked up by the US Army as a convenient way to get meat to the front lines during World War II, and also hailed for its low cost as it used up pork shoulder, a cut that was unpopular at the time.
Thanks to it being in the kit bags of GI’s, it then made its way around the world, and was also picked up by Allied soldiers. It was estimated that 100 million pounds of Spam was sent abroad to US and Allied soldiers during the war.
It later became something of a cultural phenomenon, thanks in part to Monty Python, and their infamous Spam sketch, not to mention the musical Spamalot. It's also massive in Hawaii (hence the Honolulu Heatwave name), where it's served in both Burger King and McDonald's.
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