The Mercotan family has been suffering a drought of vegemite lately. Most of my usual retail sources in the area have dried up completely. Noone’s got the stuff. I scraped the last bits out of the last jar with a tupperware spatula weeks and weeks ago. It’s been rough.
Today I went to my final source: Leroy’s Market down in the 'hood. I poked around amidst the quiche, norwegian goat cheese, chitterlings, and honey pot ants. They didn’t have it! “Not much call for it, Squire” was all the clerk behind the counter would say. I was devastated.
Fortunately they had some Marmite (English, not Australian, thank the gods!) so I bought the last of their stock. But I knew this could not continue! My recipes have been without that mystic ingredient for too long now! Marmite is a fine substitute for muffins and bagels et. al. but when you’re cooking up a great big pot of Qadgop’s 16 bean soup with turkey sausage, chicken parts, 47 cloves of garlic with the Beano already added, there is no substitute for 2 tablespoons of vegemite!
So I broke down and contacted my sources on the shadier side of the web. Soon, in an anonymous package delivered to my doorstep, I should have the jumbo tub of vegemite!!
My only concern: We live in a small community where everyone is pretty well known. If they deliver it during regular work hours, they just might drop it off at Mrs. Mercotan’s office at the local high school since they know we won’t be home (the mail carrier is my first cousin). I fear what might happen if she’s caught with vegemite on school grounds!
No need, no need at all to stay in the closet with your vegemite. Come out, come out! Consume it proudly, it shows a discriminating taste and a discerning palate.
While it may look like road tar it has an incomparable taste that is addictive in the extreme. I can quite understand your frustration with not having any in the pantry. Next time you can’t find any, ask your Australian fellow Dopers for a care package. We understand.
My life was changed years ago by a neighbor. She had grown up in Australia, and was going back for a visit. She asked if she could bring me anything. I said sure, “I’d love some vegemite”. I’d never actually even seen the stuff, but I’d heard of it from the music of “Men at Work”. And I’d heard that the substance was reminiscent of salty beef drippings. Mmmmmmmm…salty beef drippings! So I thought “What the hell”.
And she returned with a jar of vegemite! For me!! And it was everything I could ever have dreamt or wished for! Salty and beefy and smooth and creamy with hints of really really thick soy sauce!
Sadly, living in the American Midwest, it has been a challenge to find it in sufficient quantities. I’ve found exactly 2 stores within a 75 mile radius that have carried it at one time or another, and each time when I depleted their stock, they didn’t order any more! Once I found it stocked with the yeast for baking!
But my Australian connection kept me supplied. Either she’d be trekking back and bringing me more vegemite, or she’d have relatives visit from down under, and they’d bring some to feed my passion for this culinary prize.
Then: Tragedy! She moved to the Left Coast! It’s been scary and difficult without her. But I have learned that there are people on the internet who are willing to send you anything for money!!
It’s a magnificent ingredient; it just needs to be shown respect. Like asian fish sauce, or anchovy paste, or pickled herring it must be used judiciously. Consuming it by itself is best left to true aficionados.
My fave: Toasted english muffin, slathered with butter and vegemite, then topped with 5 year old cheddar and a sprinke of onion powder, then broiled briefly.
Pssst - the stuff lasts forever. Next time order the next tub when you still have half a pound left.
As an Australian who has vegemite-flavoured blood, even I would have a battle getting through five and a half pounds of it. I’d give it a bloody shot though!
Mmmm. Comfort food. 1970s, after school cartoons, and a vegemite sanga and a glass of milk.
Oh, good Lord. Now you’ve put me off my feed, Qadgop.
Christmas before last, we were visiting Airman’s family in Pittsburgh. His cousin’s then-boyfriend brought a tin of the stuff. I couldn’t get near it. It was a bit off-putting. You can probably blame my non-Australian upbringing, but still.
Tell ya a secret: It’s my second 5.5 lb tub! It took over a year to get thru the first one! I used it heavily in soups and stews where it really kicks up the savory flavor by an order of magnitude. Even those who HATED vegemite on toast complained if I didn’t put it in my signature soups and sauces. Adding it to my time-tested spaghetti sauce recipe won many, many converts. Just ask Elfbabe!
And a teaspoon of vegemite dissolved in hot water beats beef boullion soup any old day!
That time, the vegemite was a gift from Mrs. Mercotan! It expressed my joy in receiving said present.
This time, the vegemite is what I’m really Jonesing for! Since I’ve given up alcohol, morphine, marijuana, nicotine, benzos and ritalin, you’d better NOT come between me and my vitamin B-rich yeast extract!
Or my espresso, but that’s a whole 'nuther thread.
Please describe the taste of vegimite in detail to the uninitiated (ie me). I really like tangy, spicy food, but I get the impression from your general discussion of it’s characteristics that this stuff is overwhelmingly salty which sounds not- so- great (in concept at least).
