Wham-Bam, Thank You Spam Trivia Quiz

Answer: Guam

In many countries, including the USA, Spam is not highly regarded because of its association with wartime rations and its low cost. However, Spam is popular in parts of Asia and in some parts of the USA and its territories. In Guam, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands they consume more Spam per head than in any other part of the world and in Guam this equates to 16 cans per capita per annum. Flopsymopsy says that's a lot of Spam!

Answer: Baby Mouse Wine

According to the food and travel sites and books, all of these drinks are, indeed, real things (except Jitterbug Rum). Baby Mouse Wine, one of the more unorthodox ones for western connoisseurs, is a Chinese and Korean drink used as a remedy drink for illnesses. To make this one, you need to take day-old mice, drown them in a tub of rice wine, and let them ferment. Seagull Wine is an Eskimo treat(?) in which a seagull is placed into a bottle of water and left to ferment and Scorpion Tequila is literally what it sounds like- a scorpion can usually be found in the bottle (this one's from Mexico; Kyleisalive can't stand tequila). Oddly, the Baby Mouse Wine is likely to be the most potent. Ralph orders his late dinner friends a couple of Zimas instead. Ironically, it's not worse than the other drinks at this bar even if the ingredients don't include Spam.

Answer: Prickly pear cactus pads

Nopales are the fleshy pads from the prickly pear cactus plant. They can be prepared in a number of ways but are most often encountered in boiled or grilled strips with the spines removed. They have a rather mild flavor, somewhat like a green bean or a green pepper, and their cooked texture is somewhat like okra. Nopales have been touted for their health benefits - they are high in several vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin C and manganese, and have traditionally been used as a laxative and hangover remedy. They are also being studied for use in treatment of diabetes.

Ralph the Llama had ordered nopales because he thought that George and Andrew would appreciate having a popular New Mexican dish. Ralph had decided to order nopales earlier in the day but when they arrived he realised that 'Nothing looks the same in the light'. However, it turned out that George had once tried a dish of nopales and Spam and rather liked it, and they all enjoyed the grilled nopales.

PDAZ has also been known to enjoy nopales.

Answer: Korea

Eating live octopus is an option while you visit Korea, North or South, and Japan. The dish, nagki, formed one option for the Detour in Leg 10 of 'The Amazing Race - Season 4'. This challenge was successfully met by Richen and Chip, the ultimate winners of the competition.

Octopus is eaten in many other parts of the world, but most agree with Looney_tunes that they prefer it cooked! A nice tin of Spam is another safe alternative.

Answer: Solidified saliva

The nests used in traditional Chinese bird nest soup are made by the edible-nest swiftlet and a few related species found in Southeast Asia. The nests are made entirely from the saliva of the male birds who build the nests, which take about 35 days to complete.

The male produces a cup shaped nest which is attached to a cave wall. Even though the nests are supposed to raise the libido among other health benefits, maninmidohio will take a pass and opt for wonton soup with Spam fritters instead.

Answer: Colin

Why were George and Andy giggling? Pollocks is a homophone of a British colloquial expression for the good old Rocky Mountain oyster or testicle. UK supermarket giant Sainsbury's clearly felt that this similarity was holding back pollock sales and decided on the name change. Confusingly, they ignored the fact that hake and pollock are two completely different fish.

Testicles are delicacies in many countries around the world. The US, alone, stages several testicle festivals, who no doubt all open their invitations with the words "come and have a ball!". Eating testicles can, however, be detrimental to your health. Again in 2009, a UK newspaper reported that a Japanese diner was critically ill after eating the baked testes of the blowfish (Source: Daily Telegraph, 27th January 2009). Ralph and glendathecat think it much more sensible to stick with Spam.

Answer: Rat meat

Whilst commonly seen eating human leftovers, it seems unthinkable that these unhygienic creatures could become food for us. Indeed, the meat of the rat is a delicacy in some countries of south-east Asia, and the demand for it is ever-growing in southern India, where the meat has been described by some as "better than chicken".

Whilst some claim to genuinely enjoy this unusual meat, most describe it as being an "acquired taste", and warn that the meat must be cooked thoroughly so as to avoid ingesting any harmful diseases the rat may carry. Many people including doublemm think that the same is true of Spam.

Answer: lemon myrtle

Lemon myrtle is used as a citric flavouring as well as an oil. Originally grown in Queensland from Brisbane north to Mackay, it can now be found in most states of Australia, and is used in desserts such as Lemon Myrtle Cheese Cake, Lemon Myrtle Coconut Syrup Cake and Lemon Myrtle Creamed Rice etc. It is also used for fragrances, body washes and creams, aromatherapy, detergent and pet shampoo. It is also used as toothpaste.

Witjuti (witchetty) grubs are the larvae of leopard moths and are best eaten with the heads removed. Although eaten raw they are much better if cooked as a soup or on a barbeque and certainly not for a dessert.

Ruby saltbush can be used for sorbets but I haven't found anything else and pepperberries are native to Tasmania. They have an interesting taste starting off quite sweet and finishing with a hot Szechwan style bite.

While there is bacon, garlic, turkey and hot and spicy Spam, unfortunately lemon myrtle flavour has yet to be developed and Exit10 is most thankful.

Answer: Pecorino Sardo

The eggs of the cheese fly are deliberately added to Pecorino Sardo, an Italian hard cheese made from sheep's milk. These eggs hatch and as the larvae consume the cheese, an enzyme is released which alters its consistency. As Casu Marzu matures, the cheese becomes riddled with maggots. The ban on the cheese was imposed because of the risk of the larvae passing alive into human intestines and causing serious health consequences.

Traditionally served with bread and red wine, Casu Marzu is not really the ideal accompaniment to spam, but never fear, the manufacturers of Spam, Hormel Foods, have solved this dilemma - 'Spam with Cheese' is commercially available.

EmmaF2008 is not sure which of these she would choose!

Answer: a small cup of the world's most expensive coffee

Kopi Luwak, reputedly the most expensive coffee in the world, originates in Indonesia. "Kopi" is the Indonesian word for coffee, and "Luwak" is the Indonesian name for the common palm civet, a member of the weasel family, which is central to production of this treat. The luwak is fed raw red (ripe) coffee berries, and digests the flesh, excreting the inner beans which are then collected by hand. This process replaces the more traditional (and less labor-intensive) wet or dry processing steps in coffee production. It is supposed to remove the bitter flavor from the beans.

Looney_tunes can only wonder how the brew might be affected if the luwaks were fed Spam along with their coffee berries!