Steamed Hams: the Simpsons' cult meme

A lunch that turns into a fire, hamburgers rebranded as "steamed hams" and an aurora borealis localized entirely within a kitchen: three minutes of The Simpsons that became one of the show's biggest memes.

Here is the breakdown of "Steamed Hams".

What is "Steamed Hams"?

Beware the widespread belief: "Steamed Hams" is not an episode, but a segment of about three minutes — officially titled "Skinner and the Superintendent" — tucked inside the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" (1996). "Steamed Hams" is only a nickname, given retroactively by fans once the scene became a meme.

A lunch that turns into a disaster

The pitch is simple: Principal Skinner invites Superintendent Chalmers to lunch at his house. But Skinner burns his roast and, panicking, slips out to buy Krusty Burgers that he tries to pass off as home cooking — a lunch that will quickly turn into a disaster in his kitchen.

👛 Rather than head back to the stove after burning his roast, Skinner pulled out enough to pay for Krusty Burgers; the day your own dinner goes up in smoke, your plan B will fit just as neatly in our Simpsons wallets.

The chain of lies

The whole genius of the scene lies in Skinner's cascade of absurd lies, each one digging the hole a little deeper. The hamburgers become "steamed hams" (a supposed "regional dialect"), and when smoke fills the kitchen, Skinner delivers his cult explanation — an "aurora borealis" — to which Chalmers, incredulous, replies: "Aurora borealis? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen?" The original pun runs from "steamed clams" to "steamed hams"; the French version turns it into "saumon vapeur / jambon vapeur".

💡 Chalmers doesn't believe for a second in an aurora borealis "localized entirely" within Skinner's kitchen; with our Simpsons lamps, a very real glow stays localized in your bedroom, with no smoke and no fire.

A worldwide meme

Long a gem for connoisseurs only, the segment exploded on the internet from 2016 on, before becoming a tidal wave of remixes in 2017-2018. Musical edits, versions in every style: "Steamed Hams" is today one of the most prolific memes ever drawn from a television series.

💻 Since the tidal wave of remixes in 2017-2018, "Steamed Hams" has been living on from screen to screen; our Simpsons stickers, on the other hand, leave the screen behind and land on the lid of your laptop.

Summary table

FAQ

• Is "Steamed Hams" an episode?
  No: it is a three-minute segment ("Skinner and the Superintendent") inside the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" (1996).
• What happens in the scene?
  Skinner ruins his roast, buys Krusty Burgers and passes them off as his own cooking, piling up lies in front of Chalmers.
• What is the cult line?
  "Aurora borealis… localized entirely within your kitchen?", delivered by Chalmers as the smoke pours out.
• How long has it been a meme?
  The scene exploded on the internet from 2016 on, with a peak of remixes in 2017-2018.

Conclusion

Absurd, virtuosic and endlessly remixable, "Steamed Hams" is proof that a simple three-minute scene can become an internet monument. Springfield has not finished serving us its steamed hams.