Vegimite’s great. Too many non-aussies slather it on thickly though. The trick is a light covering. mmmmmmmmmmm
A few years back when I was in Germany there was some young germans down the hall at the college I was staying at. They spoke little English but we tried to make friends anyway (another aussie trait) and eventually one of us produced a jar of vegimite describing it as food (we didn’t speak German very well either). Before we could react one of them reached in and took a huge chunk (with his hands mind you) and popped it into his mouth.
He actually ran away screaming and they didn’t talk to us for a week.
Well, I suggested the Vegemite in sauces idea to Wife, the food chemist. She pointed out that the stuff is basically soup base–hydrolyzed vegetable protein and yeast extract so it oughta be fine. She didn’t puke or anything.
Another vegemite lover peeking in - I have it 5/7 days of the week on toast (with margarine). Just like you don’t use soy sauce like tomato sauce, you don’t use vegemite like peanut butter. Thinly spread over hot crumpets, it cannot be beaten (as a savoury breakfast).
Like Al Zheimers, I much prefer Marmite. Much more palatable tang to it, and on hot buttered toast it is a dreeeeammm. I’m not one to recommend foods, much, as I can give or take it. But this is one of the few things I heartily endorse.
homer voice
Mmmmmm, marmite on hot buttered toast… argleargleargle…
I think you’ve got to be raised on them to like them - I grew up in Australia, where insulting vegemite is a blasphemous statement to some. Personal favourite was to toast some bread, spread a thin scraping of mar/vegemite on top, then sprinkle a little cheese over that and chuck it under the grill for 40 seconds. Nutritional value close to nil, but good munchies.
It’s a pretty good hangover cure, but that could be because you need to wash it down with lots of drink (very salty). For a really good hangover cure try Irn Bru, if it’s available at your location. It’s recuperative powers are the only explanation for how much of the stuff is sold in Glasgow.
In my more youthful and carefree days, I was sleeping with a girl (well, we weren’t dating, so what do you call it?) from Zimbabwe who loved the stuff.
She got me to try it one reckless morning and though I can’t say for certain why we broke up, that stuff, and my reaction to it, may have had something to do with it.
Vegemite is an example of a product that used to be thrown away-I think it is the crud that is scraped off the walls of beer vats, after the beer is drained off and bottled. The stuff used to be fed to pigs-then some bright entrepreneur decided to bottle it and market it as a health food to the brits.
Needless to say, it caught on in a big way-to a nation that looks to “toad in the hole” as its highest culinary achievement, vegemite tastes mighty good!
And it solved the brewers problem of what to do with this crap!
I understand that it tastes like “dried mud witha bit of salt”!
Inspired by all of the Olympic hype (and spurred on in part by this thread), I went down to my local market and bought a jar of Vegimite (one of the nice things about living in New York is that they have all sorts of nifty international foods like Vegimite – Marmite, too – at the stores, though at $3.49 for a 4oz. jar, it ain’t cheap). I loved the stuff when I was in Australia two years ago, and had used up the supply that I had brought back.
Anyway, breakfast this morning was crackers with butter and Vegemite. Yummy!!!
Many moons ago, I posted to the 'Dope about having tried Vegemite on my honeymoon in Fiji. I’d never had it, but I was aware of it (being a Men at Work listener and all), so I was curious. I watched one of the Aussies at breakfast, so I had the very thin spread on toast thing as an example.
My description of the product has not changed:
It was like licking a dog’s salty asshole.
I’m glad some of the rest of you enjoy it so much. You are welcome to have my share in the great cosmic Vegemite pool.
Hangover cure? Yes some swear by it but rarely Australians because we also have something called Baroccas which are the best hangover cures known to man.
And it must be noted that Vegimite SHOULD be used in conjunction with butter contrary to normal American habits.
Y’know, it’s funny how people are actually able to acquire some tastes. I mean, I know people that like lutefisk. Some people claim to like Vegimite (something I find extremely improbable). There’s a group of aboriginal people somewhere that likes live grubs, but they gag when they try to eat cooked pasta. Some little kids in Jamaica eat a form of hot sauce that would melt your teeth.
How do you develop a liking for something that causes reflux in other people? I mean, I could tell my son that anchovies are yummy, yummy, delicious. But I’d know enough to stand back when he put one in his mouth. At what point does one say, “Hm. Vegimite doesn’t make me gag anymore. Now I like it!”
