By popular request, I give you my first recipe using that magic ingredient, vegemite:
QtM’s killer spaghetti sauce
1/2-1 lb favorite ground red meat (beef, pork, italian sausage, emu, etc)
1 large onion, chopped
a few tbsp olive oil
2 or 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
29 oz. can diced tomatos or tomato sauce (even better, 4 cups fresh tomatos, chopped)
12 oz. can tomato paste
2 tbsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugar if desired
2 cups liquid (water, beef consomme, chicken broth, whatever but make sure the liquid is relatively low salt)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp Vegemite
1 bay leaf
Method: Heat the olive oil in a cooking pot over a medium high heat. Add chopped onions and cook until translucent. Add meat and chopped garlic cloves, stir as necessary until cooked.
Then add the remaining ingredients, and stir the hell out of them together until blended, then simmer for a few hours, stirring when you remember to.
Nobody has ever given me a straight answer as to what Vegemite actually tastes like. Most people joke about it, but no one says “It tastes like __________.” I’d love to try it and see, but I’ve never seen it at any South Florida supermarkets.
Go to http://www.everythingaustralian.com and follow the links, or, if you’re in the US, just call 877-800-0567 to get in contact with those same people.
Of course in my case, I just have to get up and walk to the fridge!
For those in the US who wish to find a local source of vegemite, it is often available at Cost Plus World Market (no, I’m not shilling, they’re just the only reliable source of vegemite I’ve yet found in the US, although there are probably others). I also have found a stock of it at a local natural foods co-op.
As for cooking with it, my only recipe is to toast bread and smear it on. Perhaps I’ll try the spaghetti sauce on garlic bread and see how it goes.
Big Bad Voodoo Lou: How would you describe the taste of chocolate to someone who has never had candy? I don’t think it would be easy.
Vegemite is salty-tasting. Beyond that, prople have different opinions as to what it tastes like. Some people say it tastes like beef. Others swear it tastes as if there’s cheese in it. In the other thread it was described as tasting like the bits at the bottom of a roasting pan, only without the grease. To me, it tastes like very strong soy sauce. As to how salty-tasting it is, that is also subjective. I like anchovies. I could say that Vegemite is like anchovies, but without the taste of fish. (Incidentally, anchovies are used in a similar way to Vegemite – as an ingredient to other things such as Caesar salad dressing, and in Worcestershire sauce.)
The thing to remember is that Vegemite is a condiment. I think that many people who don’t like it may have come to their conclusions based on eating it straight. They’d probably say they hate Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce, if they had just put some in a spoon and ate it. Can you imagine eating a spoonful of catsup, mustard, or mayonaise?
You know when you roast a chicken and there are those sticky, gooey, salty brown bits in the bottom of the pan (that are so good for making gravy) - it tastes like that, only more so (and more salty too).
I’m a Marmite afficionado myself (let’s not get into the silly arguments, eh?) - not much of a recipe, but I find that cheese on toast is vastly improved by a thin smear of Marmite (on the toast, underneath the cheese).
For a real killer spaghetti sauce, don’t forget the prussic acid. That one will really floor your guests.
I can’t give a detailed recipie, but here is a marmite dish that could use vegimite.
Tasty Beehive
Cook together beef mince, stock, onions, chopped carrot, garlic to make a thick mince. Allow to cool.
Make a suet pastry (same as for steak and kidney pudding)
Grease a dome shaped heat proof glass bowl (of volume sufficient to hold all the mince and pastry.
Construct the Beehive by putting a 3/4 inch layer of suet pastry, in the bottom of the bowl, spread thickly with Marmite, then 1/2 inch of mince, then another layer of suet pastry spread with marmite, then another layer of mince …
Continue until the beehive is several layers thick, ending with a layer of suet pastry at the top.
Cover the bowl with muslin cloth, and tie. Then steam the entire beehive until the pastry is cooked (same time as for a similar sized S&K pudding). Serve slices of the beehive with beef gravy and steamed vegies (carrots and green beens say).
I don’t have to imagine it, I’ve done it. Also salad dressing, chili sauce, pickle relish, worcestershire, pickapeppa, soy sauce, fish sauce, etc.
I love strong flavors, especially salty ones. I’ve sampled all sorts of sauces, relishes, spreads, you name its. I’m something of a family joke because there’s very little food in my refrigerator-it’s full of stuff you serve with food.
I am the condiment queen!
Anyway, I’m going to try that spaghetti sauce as soon as I can get to the store.
One question though, do you have to keep vegemite/marmite in the frig or is that just an optional thing? Hard to imagine it going bad.
Cool. I love Worcestershire sauce straight. Soy too. I’ve got birch syrup, spruce tip jelly, and tomato chutney along with lime pickle and salted lemon rinds in my fridge.
My previous vegemite tub kept ok fine in the cupboard for over a year.
Beef Stew With Vegemite
1 pkg Schwann’s frozen Sirloin beef tips in gravy (or about a pound of stew meat)
4-6 potatos, peeled and cut up into smaller bits
a few cups of carrots, cut up
two onions, cut up into yummy-sized pieces
8 oz tomato sauce or a cup of spicy V-8 or both
1 can beef consomme (campbells works nice)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1-2 Tbsp vegemite
Some Worcestershire sauce if desired
Mix it all together in a pressure cooker
bring it up to pressure for about 18-20 minutes
let cool
thicken liquid with cornstarch if desired
eat
Ex-boyfriend left a jar of vegemite here. Well, we broke up in 1991, and I know I should have thrown it out, but the jar was almost full, so I let it sit there.
My question : can this still be used in cooking, or should I dump it? [/thread hijack]
Thanks for sharing your recipe Qadgop the Mercotan.
I guarantee you you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between your jar and one fresh out of the factory. That crap’s got a longer shelf life than a Hostess Ho Ho.
To me, it tastes like a beef boullion cube softened with a few drops of warm water and mashed into a paste.
I’m dying to try Vegemite. I can get Marmite at my local grocery but from everything I’ve read it’s not a suitable substitute. There’s a gourmet food shop near my work that might carry it, I’m going to call and ask.
I did find these recipes at the Kraft Foods Australia web site if anyone’s interested. Some of them look quite interesting.
Thanks for your recipes QtM I’m going to try them as soon as I can find some.
In an old, old thread from 2002 you mentioned that you’re Australian neighbor was bringing you samples of all the 'mites. Vegemite, marmite, pommite, mightymite and aussie mite (I think that was all of them) and you were going to do a little taste test. You never let us know in that thread how you liked the other mites.
I had the aussie version of marmite at that time. It was ok. Better thanPromite and Mighty Mite and Aussie Mite. Basically vegemite won hands down over all the other Aussie products.
Then I discovered true english Marmite! In certain situations I like it better than vegemite! Depends mainly if I’m going for pure, unadulturated yeast extract flavor. If so, marmite wins. If I’m looking to make a harmony of many flavors, vegemite is better.
Vegemite and Marmite sound wretched to me, given what they are, but for those interested I’m certain that I saw one or the other on sale at Meijer. Their international selection - at least that of the one around here - is reasonable in general.
Ok that’s bizzare. All day yesterday and today everywhere the word vegemite appeared in this thread it was red. Now everything’s back to black and white. I think I need a drink.
