Tamales in a Can

(Image taken from the following website: http://evilwarpingkitty.com/food2.htm)

I've decided to go with The Downside first for this one:

I have never been a big fan of canned meat products. Vienna sausages, spam, chili, whatever, the fact that there is some sort of ambiguous meat floating in a metal can sounds absolutely disgusting to me. And, go figure, whenever I'm adventurous enough to try a canned meat product, I am usually let down. Hormel's tamales in a can is no exception to this rule.
This Hormel product was an unfortunate staple of my childhood meals. I would cringe every time I asked my mom what was for dinner, and the reply was "tamales." I absolutely love Mexican food, but Hormel's version of a tamale (and pretty much every canned tamale I've ever had) is a pathetic excuse for food.
When you open the can, you have to fish out a slimy tamale out of some sort of meaty juice. After you slap one of these beasts onto a plate or a tray (depending on how exactly you plan on cooking them), you have to pry it from its wax paper covering. As if it wasn't nasty enough, you have to free your so-called tamale from its waxy skin. What you are left with is a some sort of soggy, sad-looking tortilla with the best mystery meat Hormel has to offer. No matter how this has been cooked, I have always noticed that it keeps its soggy disposition, and the taste is incredibly bland.

The Upside:
I suppose if you covered it with tons of salsa and pico de gallo and whatnot, you could pretend you were eating a real tamale. But you'd known deep down you would know what you were really eating--a slimy thing you pulled out of a can.

Rating: 1/5. I really should give it a zero. But, my little sister loves these things, so maybe someone out there will, too.