Spam, Spam, Spam: Army chef's make-do menu for troops in Afghanistan

A British Army chef whose supply helicopter was shot down by the Taliban devised an ingenious menu to feed frontline troops for six weeks on a diet of nothing but Spam.

Corporal Liam Francis, 26, was left without fresh food after insurgents downed a chopper flying supplies to his Forward Operating Base near Sangin, Afghanistan.

Cpl Francis only had one ingredient in his store cupboard - hundreds of tins of Spam - famously immortalised in a Monty Python sketch.



He created an ingenious menu from the tinned pork and ham including sweet and sour Spam, Spam fritters, Spam carbonara, Spam stroganoff and stir fried Spam.

But father-of-one Cpl Francis of Tidworth, Wilts., admitted that ''morale improved'' when fresh food finally reached their base. ''We were on compo (compound rations) for six weeks and we only had one menu - Spam," he said.

''I was surprised what we could do: sweet and sour Spam, Spam fritters, Spam carbonara, Spam stroganoff and Spam stir fry. The first day off Spam, I prepared battered sausages, chips and curry sauce. The Sergeant Major said it was the best meal he had ever had - he'd never seen morale so high.''