Having read several threads about people finding vegemite to be either delicious or absolutely inedible, I found myself in a World Market and saw some on the shelf. I am the curious sort, so I bought it and and brought it home. It took several days to get up the nerve to make some buttered toast and actually try it, but I finally did. (Spread very sparingly as folks here suggested.)
I decided it tasted just like…
Multivitamin tablets ground up and made into a spread.
I must say I haven’t experienced a hankering to eat any more of it.
I think I’ll stick in the fridge and save it for the the total breakdown of civilization and the resulting famine. Then I can spread it on some stale saltines and still get my B vitamins.
I’ve tasted Vegemite before, when a coworker brought some back from a trip to Australia. It was salty. The comparison to soy sause is a good one. If I had some almond chicken or an egg roll, Vegemite might make a suitable topping, but otherwise I’ll pass.
I bought a jar of Marmite a couple of months ago. Took me a couple of samples but I ended up liking it. Britdopers were right about it. Putting it on buttered toast is amazing. Haven’t worked up to drinking it in a broth yet.
Though, how does Vegemite differ from Marmite? Thinner/easier spreading? Less spicy? Something else?
I’m not a very picky eater. I tried it once. Once. It’s so salty that unless you’re using it as a flavoring base for soups and stews it really is virtually unpalatable. Even as a thin skim on toasted bread it’s overpoweringly salty. It tastes like a condensation of burnt, yeasty, salty charcoal smoke.
The taste reminded me of bouillon cubes. Marmite, Vegemite, and the yeast version of Bovril are practically interchangeable for me.
I actually like the stuff, though it would be below peanut butter and Nutella on my list of preferred toast spreads. It adds a nice zip to vegetable sandwiches, makes a passable broth/hot drink. I hadn’t thought of its soy-sauce-like taste, but I imagine it’d go well tossed with similar noodle/rice foods.
There’s a fairly new version of Vegemite that mixes the normal version with cream cheese, and I actually now prefer that to the original version. People put off by the strength of the regular version might like the “watered down” vegemite better, but still, an acquired taste.
I found Vegemite to be a weaker version of Marmite, but easier to spread. Marmite has the consistency of chocolate syrup, Vegemete more like shoe polish.