Crack seed, Saveur, & Me!

Crack seed gets new respect. I offer a mea culpa.

Latest Saveur (May) highlights Crack seed I told you about recently. (See my article on Gourmet Chips and salty snacks.) The article describe how a Honolulu hotspot shows off the versatility of this amped up Hawaiian snack.

Your humble gourmet food writer issues a mea culpa here. I did not know the crack seed center actually sells the spice combos for three of their blends! And Honolulu's Side Street Inn rims a cocktail glass with it. Brilliant!

It's a great article that does an excellent job in a few words of covering the melange of cultures and influences in typical Hawaiian fare. My only disappointment is the omission of Spam. While the Side Street in may use linguica, and Portugese certainly did contribute to the culinary palate of Hawaii, I would lay money on the notion that more kitchens in Hawaii see Spam fried rice than linguica fried rice.

In my humble opinion, no discussion of Hawaiian food traditions should neglect mention of this culinary oddity. Maybe I'll have to devote an article to the topic...but that might strain the good nature of my editor.

Offered for your consideration: in Korea, Spam is gift boxed at holidays for corporate and other gift-giving.

Anyone care to weigh in on this?