# I just ordered 5.5 lbs of vegemite **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194 "2004-04-27T01:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/21 "2004-04-27T05:09:01Z")
Vegemite tastes, well, um… like vegemite? It is quite salty, but you only use a very thin smear on toast, it’s very vitamin B rich yeast extract, it’s so dark brown that it’s nearly black. It’s very thick (it will hold its shape) - a bit like cool butter, but it’s not greasy and it spreads easily. It’s is best served as follows: toast a thick slice of white bread; smear liberally with butter; put the thinest of thin scrapings of vegemite on top. If you must, feel free to add a slice of vintage tasty cheese (but it isn’t necessary). I’ve grown up on the stuff. Mum used to smear it on my rusks when I was teething as a baby. In prep, I used to take vegemite and honey sandwiches to school for lunch. Now I am more discerning, and I got the vegemite toast option or vegemite and cheese sandwich. And TLD’s right - vegemite sangas went down very well with a glass of milk after school… ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/22 "2004-04-27T05:45:02Z")
I’m a marmite fan myself. But I do like a bit of variety, and I currently have a jar of each downstairs. Don’t be sucked into believing that a tiny smear is the only way to eat it. Spread thick on toast is also great. I go through a 250 gram jar in about a month. Sometimes it is probably my only source of vitamins. As to the taste? Marmite is a lot sharper, and tastes a whole lot more salty. Vegemite has a more rounded malty sort of a flavour. Both are yeast extracts. You can get an approximation of it if you can acquire some flaked deactivated brewer’s yeast. Maybe in a health food shop or some obscure corner of your supermarket. But the 'mites have something extra and undefinable that the yeast doesn’t have. A sharp edge in the same way that anchovies have a sharp edge over sardines. Maybe it is an acquired taste, but it’s good for you. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/23 "2004-04-27T06:02:16Z")
I have had the same breakfast every day for as long as I can remember - Vegemite, spread generously on hot buttered toast. I take my own supplies with me when I travel to other “heathen” nations overseas. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/24 "2004-04-27T09:55:15Z")
> [@Sisyphus' Stone](#): > > BTW, Marmite is **no** substitute for the real thing. Some people prefer one; some prefer the other - can’t we all just get along? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/25 "2004-04-27T10:09:25Z")
Qadgop, if you need any get in contact and I’ll send a jar or two. I used to send it to friends in the USA until they told me they put it on their kids tongues when they swore! And this from a race who eat pumpkin pie with cream!!! Ewwww. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/26 "2004-04-27T10:31:43Z")
> [@Sisyphus' Stone](#): > > BTW, Marmite is **no** substitute for the real thing. Grr: Marmite _is_ the real thing. Maybe I’ll try Vegemite for cooking like **Qadgop**. It just doesn’t feel right using Marmite like that. Bovril on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/27 "2004-04-27T10:55:02Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > …Qadgop’s 16 bean soup with turkey sausage, chicken parts, **47 cloves of garlic** with the Beano already added… Mmmmmmmmm. Garlic. You, dear sir, have totally and eteranlly won my heart and soul merely with this. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/28 "2004-04-27T12:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I just ordered 5.5 lbs of vegemite 5.5 pounds of Vegemite will sustain life in an Australian for 15 minutes. Unless Oxygen is provided for breathing purposes. Then, 17 1/2 minutes of life is possible. Sustained captivity of Australians is impossible, unless an obscure compound called “beer” is made available. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/29 "2004-04-27T12:48:45Z")
If memory serves correctly, you can buy Vegemite in Bawlmer. Let Elfbabe know before she comes home this summer. Of course, with a metric ton of it sitting around, I guess it’s not really an issue, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/30 "2004-04-27T13:04:59Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Some people prefer one; some prefer the other - can’t we all just get along? Hey hey! Ho ho! That M_rm_te crap has got to go! Hey hey! Ho ho! That M_rm_te crap has got to go! What do we want? M_rm_te OUT!! When do we want it? NOW!!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/31 "2004-04-27T13:05:19Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > If memory serves correctly, you can buy Vegemite in Bawlmer. Let Elfbabe know before she comes home this summer. > Of course, with a metric ton of it sitting around, I guess it’s not really an issue, is it? Just got back from Bawlmer a few weeks ago. No vegemite! Some dandy halvah tho! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/32 "2004-04-27T13:07:08Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Since I’ve given up alcohol, morphine, marijuana, nicotine, benzos and ritalin… :eek: Er, was this _before_ or _after_ you received your M.D.? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/33 "2004-04-27T13:19:23Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > :eek: Er, was this _before_ or _after_ you received your M.D.? That would be silly. How could he have procured it all before he had his MD? Silly Olent! l) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/34 "2004-04-27T13:22:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t be sucked into believing that a tiny smear is the only way to eat it. Spread thick on toast is also great. I agree. I like a not-so-thin smear, myself. And no butter/marge when I eat it on English muffins (crumpets). I looked at the clock and realised that it was too late to make a bowl of oatmeal (with a spoonful of lingonberries, yum!), and then I found this thread. So I’ve just finished a Vegemite sandwich with marg. And I’ve made two more for lunch! **Qadgop the Mercotan** : I’ve had Vegemite broth, and I’ve used Vegemite as a condiment on breakfast burritos and Thai BBQ chicken. Of course, I use it as a spread. But I’d really like to get some of your recipes. How about starting a Vegemite Recipes thread in Café Society? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/35 "2004-04-27T13:26:03Z")
> [@astro](#): > > 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). You know those gooey, beefy brown congealed bits swimming in fat at the bottom of the roasting pan after making a serious pot roast? The kind that make the excellent gravy? It’s sort of like that, only saltier, and without the fat. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/36 "2004-04-27T13:29:35Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > :eek: Er, was this _before_ or _after_ you received your M.D.? Mine was a medical school emphasizing the _personal experience_. ☹ But that was decades ago now. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/37 "2004-04-27T13:36:02Z")
> [@](#): > > EW! EW!.. that stuff is just nasty! No, it isn’t. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/38 "2004-04-27T14:19:30Z")
Sheesh, **Qadgop** , I make probably a cup or so of that stuff every month; you should have told me you were running low. I was up in that (_cough_) bustling metropolis just to your north this past weekend. Well, mind you, it’s in the pre-Vegemite state - brewer’s yeast proper, that is - but I suspect someone could whip up some homemade (homebrewed?) version of the real thing with it. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/39 "2004-04-27T14:24:31Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Mine was a medical school emphasizing the _personal experience_. Ah, the International Foundation for Internal Freedom Medical School, I presume? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194/40 "2004-04-27T14:35:37Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > …vegemite sanga and a glass of milk. 🙂 Oh, yes. One bite and I can almost hear the theme song from ‘Simon Townsend’s Wonder World.’ 5.5 lbs sounds like an odd quantity? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-5-5-lbs-of-vegemite/242194.md?page=3)