Marmite XO: The 10 year old cheddar of yeast extracts!

Cafe Society
1

My jar of Marmite XO (aka “extra old”) arrived from the UK today.

It’s aged 4 times longer than regular UK marmite.

I’ve been a yeast extract aficionado for a few years now. Vegemite, promite, Aussie Mite, Mighty Mite, New Zealand marmite, UK marmite, these things are not strangers to my palate. Some are better, some are worse, all are interesting to my tastebuds.

So I’d been anticipating the XO version of UK marmite for a while now.

Frankly, UK marmite is my favorite yeast extract, when using said extract to top bites of muffins, sandwiches, etc. Vegemite is still my go-to stuff for use in larger recipes. The other products are pretty much tied for a distant 3rd place.

I tried it straight off the knife. Darker, but just as treacley as regular marmite, it had a much more assertive aroma than its kid brother.

Tastewise, it was truly deeper, smokier, beefier. Older, the way a 30 year old scotch or 10 year old cheddar is older.

But it was much more subtle than I had expected. And it lingered on the palate, the way a ristretto godshot or a habanero 70% dark chocolate truffle topped with a few grains of sea salt lingers on the palate.

I’m taking it slow. A few more straight taste tests this week, then I’ll move on to a trial of it on a buttered english muffin with a thin slice of the aforementioned 10 year old cheddar.

2

Damn. I need to find myself some of that stuff now. For me, I slightly prefer Vegemite to Marmite for toast. It’s a little, I dunno, “purer” and somewhat easier to spread being less molasses-like than Marmite.

3

Who would have thought a Marmite food snob! :wink:

4

I am in awe.

With the current NZ marmite crisis, I’m quite happily using the UK version for the duration of the shortage. I long ago rejected vegemite as a preference, or even an alternative in the pantry.

The OP’s deep investigation of yeast extracts is a fine and noble thing.

Well done sir! Bravo.
(Claps politely)

5

Dear Jebus, there are people out there who want their Marmite to taste stronger?!?

Just. Wow.

It’s like my Uncle who’s favorite passtime is crying over a plate of ghost peppers.

6

Where, by “lingers on”, you mean “eats holes in”? :smiley:

I actually decided recently that I was in the mood to face cthonic horrors and bought a tiny jar of English marmite to try. It was… not horrid. Just…SALT. I’m at a loss as to how, but it actually seems to taste saltier than straight table salt. I can see why it’s supposed to be spread on toast–untoasted bread probably can’t stand up to the scraping required to spread the stuff thin enough for mere mortals.

I will leave the subtleties of aged marmite to the tongue of the Mercotan. I am not sufficiently in touch with the depths to appreciate it, I’m sure.

7

One of my all time favorites of my many crack-pot theories, is that the taste for Marmite belongs exclusively to those whose Mothers occasionally snuck a splash of Guiness into their bottles to get them to nap.

8

Absolute rubbish! It was whisky on the gums for teething.

Now I’m thirsty.

9

I have a jar of this sitting on the shelf at home. Now I’m a big Marmite fan but I was underwhelmed by XO, I really couldn’t taste much difference really. It’s no Guinness Marmite that’s for sure.

10

Musta been an Islay, then. :wink:

11

That side of the family’s from Glasgow, it could have been anything.:smiley:

12

I salute Qadgop for his willingness to throw himself on top of that marmite, thereby saving the rest of the platoon from having to eat it.

13

I am a total Marmite lover and even I was not hugely impressed with the XO version, it simply didn’t taste sufficiently different to the normal version for me. I am just about to start my second jar although first of all I need to finish the little jar of normal and the large jar of champagne Marmite. There there will be the celebratory jar of Ma’amite that I am about to acquire…is there a point where you can declare it to be “too much Marmite” or does that concept not exist?

14

It is a nice topping for neutronium.

15

I must admit my initial response to XO was that it didn’t seem to taste that much different from regular marmite. But as it lingered on my palate, the flavor got much more complex. And to me it’s definitely smokier. And the aroma much more powerful.

I would love to try the guinness version of marmite one day…