Look out, stomach; here it comes

At Spamarama 99, Austinites flip their lids over squishy concoctions

In Austin's annual tribute to canned mystery meat, anything goes -- from Spam sports to an eating contest and a Spam cook-off.

On the menu for Spamarama 99: chocolate-covered Spam truffles, Spam pizza, Spam-filled Twinkies and two versions of Spam haggis.

That's right, two versions.

It's not that the original haggis -- the traditional Scottish dish of meat and grain cooked in a sheep's stomach -- needed any improvement, but it seemed like the perfect complement to Spam, one cook said.

"The recipe for Spam and haggis are just about the same," Lucio Bendetto said. "Surprisingly, we've had several brave people actually try it."

Several hundred people were expected to attend Spamarama, now in its 21st year. The event, held this year at Auditorium Shores, was started by Dave Arnsberger as an answer to the ubiquitous chili cook-off.

Over the years, a Spam Cram eating contest and Spam Olympics sporting events were added. Spamathletes competed in the Spam toss and later in a tug of war over a pool of Spam jelly.

New this year was a demonstration by a professional boomerang team. In true Spamarama spirit, one member of the Foster's Boomerang 2000 team used a boomerang to knock a Spam-filled apple off his own head.

Bravery also came in handy for those sampling other cook-off dishes, including the Spam-filled Twinkies.

"Well," said Marda Waters after sinking her teeth into one of the Spam and Twinkie cream morsels, "it doesn't taste as bad as the concept sounds."

"They taste as good as you think,'' said Spam Twinkie creator Tom Concannon. ``It's at least as good as (Spam) haggis."

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