UK NEWS

ARMY CHEFS COOK SPAM-A-LOT FOR TROOPS FIGHTING TALIBAN

Corporal Liam Francis cooking spam fritters in Afghanistan for the troops

Friday February 5,2010

By Laura Holland

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IT sounds like something out of a Monty Python sketch but this was no laughing matter.

Frontline troops were fed nothing but Spam for six weeks after the Taliban shot down a helicopter carrying their food.

Army chef Corporal Liam Francis managed to devise an ingenious menu, however, from the tinned pork and ham.

Just don’t mention sweet and sour Spam, Spam fritters, Spam carbonara, Spam stroganoff or stir-fried Spam to him ever again.

Liam, 26, who hates Spam, was left without fresh food after insurgents downed a helicopter flying supplies to his forward operating base near Sangin, Afghanistan.

That left him with only one ingredient in his store cupboard – hundreds of tins of Spam.

Father-of-one Liam said: “We were on compo (compound rations) for six weeks and we only had one menu – Spam. I was surprised what we could do: sweet and sour Spam, Spam fritters, Spam carbonara, Spam stroganoff and Spam stir fry.” When other foods were finally flown in he couldn’t believe how happy the other troops were.

‘He would never have eaten it if I’d served it to him’- Liam’s mum

“The first day off Spam, I prepared battered sausages, chips and curry sauce,” said Liam, who lives with wife Nadine, 27, in Tidworth, Wiltshire. “The sergeant major said it was the best meal he had ever had. He said he’d never seen morale so high.”

The solders’ plight is similar to that of a cafe customer in the Python sketch who is upset to find everything on the menu contains Spam.

She is offered a variety of dishes including egg and Spam; egg, bacon and Spam; egg, bacon, sausage and Spam; and Spam, bacon, sausage and Spam. In the background a choir starts singing: “Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!” The show even spawned a musical comedy called Spamalot.

Liam’s proud mother Pat, 65, who lives with his father Jeff, 64, in Whitworth, Bristol, said: “When he was six he said he wanted to be a chef and went to a hotel to visit their kitchens to see what it was like. Then a couple of years later he wrote an article for school in which he described wanting to be a soldier in the Army or a chef in a restaurant.

“It’s incredible to think that now he’s combined them and is doing the job he loves. I was absolutely amazed when I heard the story about serving the troops in Afghanistan using nothing but Spam because he hates the stuff. He would never have eaten it if I’d served it to him, that’s for sure.”

Liam’s boss, Warrant Officer Marcus Turner, 38, said: “To see the chefs working extremely hard has been fantastic. From junior to senior chef they are a team to be proud of.”

Liam joined the Army in 2004. He is a Royal Logistics Corps chef attached to the 2nd Royal Welsh, and began his tour of Afghanistan in July last year.

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NOTHING NEW

05.02.10, 10:05pm

Spam was first introduced during the second world war, the Americans needed something easy to prepare and nutricious to feed the troops fighting in the Pacific Theatre, it has remained a very popular food in the Hawaiian Islands ever since ,and the recipes for it are very inovative, there are several websites dedicated to fans of Spam!

• Posted by: Royb • Report Comment

LIK-YA-LIPS

05.02.10, 3:10pm

BEFORE SOMEONE SEWS YOUR MOUTH UP,
THIS ISN'T THE SUN/STAR.

• Posted by: korky • Report Comment

LIK-YA-LIPS

05.02.10, 3:10pm

BEFORE SOMEONE SEWS YOUR MOUTH UP,
THIS ISN'T THE SUN/STAR.

• Posted by: korky • Report Comment

SPAMALOT

05.02.10, 2:55pm

The Taliban were heard shouting 'More Ham, Ed?', after they shot the chopper down.

• Posted by: lickyalips1 • Report Comment

YEOKELBOY9

05.02.10, 11:55am

Did you not read the bit that said “Taliban shot down a helicopter carrying their food?”

A lot of people would think that “make do and mend” is not a bad “mantra to have, but when it comes to food for the troops I feel certain, and sincerely hope, that fresh supplies were provided as soon as it was practical and possible to do so. I assume that it being a forward operating base and its location made this difficult. The article certainly does not suggest otherwise.

• Posted by: TheDA • Report Comment