Thanks for the offer! I’ve got a day off work at the end of the week; I’ll see what I can shake out of the trees then.
Ha!
Thanks to everyone else for the comments/ideas, too. From what I’ve read the pronunciation of Maggi is something like ‘Mackey,’ but I’d bet it varies from country to country.
I’ll also make sure to check the spice aisle - I’d been checking the soup/gravy area, the ketchup/condiment aisle and the ‘ethnic’ aisle and no luck with any of the Maggi branded products.
It also just occurred to me this morning to go to the Walmart Grocery app and search for it there - the Mexican version of it comes up along with a few other Maggi products (all with Spanish labeling), so I will try there as well, though I know from experience the store doesn’t always have what the app says it does.
Each one of these is the flavor of a regional Colombian dish.
It’s clear that in places where people for whatever reason don’t use it like soy sauce, the company just develops whatever thing will have a regional appeal.
More like "MAH-ghee or “MAH-key” Or listen here. There also appears to be a “MAH-jee” pronunciation, though I’m not sure where–perhaps Italy? In this Nigerian commercial, it sounds like “Maggie” (like the name) to me. But I’ve grown up calling it “MAH-ghee.” (/maɡi/ in IPA).
Outside of the sauce, they’re a company like Knorr (and somewhat McCormick’s) that has a bunch of dried seasoning mixes, bouillon cubes, and quick & easy instant soup and noodle types of products. Everywhere they sell a wide range of products.
ETA: From the Wikipedia article, here are the places where “Maggi” on its own is associated specifically with the sauce:
An article I read about Maggi says Kwame Onwuachi, who is the chef of this restaurant, will only use the Nigerian version of the Maggi cubes in his Nigerian dishes because he says he can’t find anything else that gets the taste right.
Or they could always come here to Krakow, where it runs about the equivalent of 35 cents for a 200 ML bottle.
In Poland, a bottle of Maggi is seemingly omnipresent on the tables of 95% of all restaurants, much like Tabasco is in America, b but strangely enough, I don’t see that many local Poles using it, unlike me, who although I had never even heard of it just 4 years ago now find myself hopelessly addicted to it, using it in/on soups, sauces, smoked fish, dips, frozen entrees and dozens of other things that need a bit of zip.
Oddly enough, my extremely traditional Polish fiancee (at least when it comes to food) isn’t crazy about it, and said she had been using the same small bottle for a couple of years until she met me, but she’s a bit of an outlier, as she also virtually never drinks alcohol, which certainly sets her apart from 99.5% of her fellow countrymen/women. (although since we met, she now might have a glass of wine once a month or so, I guess I am a bad influence)
Yeah, it’s not something we used every day growing up at meals or anything like that, but it was always there if we needed it. Like I said, I typically would add a few drops to chicken noodle soup (the clear rosól I’m sure you’re familiar with) if it needed a kick, but a little goes a long way. It can overwhelm the taste of the food if you’re not careful with it. For the last twenty years or so, though, my folks have had a lovage plant, so they just use the leaves finely chopped now in the soup instead or in addition to parsley, and we skip the Maggi (though it’s still there in case of emergency. )
Similarly, our house would pretty much always have Vegeta somewhere (a vegetable bouillon seasoning type of blend originating from the former Yugoslavia, and now manufactured by plants in Croatia, Hungary, and Austria) but we didn’t use it a whole lot–just had it around if anything needed a little umami and spice kick to it. I’m not sure if I have any around in my cupboard right now, but I do use it occasionally when I make čevapčići, as it was a flavor I associate with particular čevapi I had in Croatia.
Here is the version I have. It doesn’t seem to say the region/country. The ingredients are: Water, Salt, Wheat Gluten, Wheat, and Less than 2% of Wheat Bran, Sugar, Acetic Acid, Artificial Flavor, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Dextrose, Caramel Color. So it seems to be close to the Chinese version pulykamell listed above. Maybe it’s an Indian version? The store has a lot of products one would associate with Indian cuisine.
Interesting! I just found out about this stuff a few years ago from my girlfriend (a big fan of German food). German restaurants in Chicago will have a bottle on the table. It’s now something I always keep around. Pretty easy to find at grocery stores, but not something every store will carry.
No idea there was so much variety. I guess I have the German version. It’s very similar to soy sauce, but I find it “blends into” savory Euro-American cuisine more. I pretty much add a dash or two to any dish that I think needs a boost of savory flavor. Burgers, soups, stews, etc. Useful stuff.
I used to be a very finicky, everything-from-scratch-ish cook in my 20s, but, in my 30s, I’m learning the value of good premade sauces and spices.
This is interesting. My wife assures me that when she was living in Singapore (70’s, early 80’s) and traveled extensively in the area Maggi’s was assumed to be the Chili sauce. I even asked her if she was aware of any other kind and she said no.
Possibly it was the context… I suppose it could be one thing if you were eating a spring roll and ask for Maggi’s (assuming Chili sauce) vs. cooking something and asking for Maggi’s (assuming the umami type of sauce).
And if you can’t trust the memories of a once teen aged expat what can you trust?
Ahem. Post 24 above. I noted the original Italian /ˈmaddʒi/ (“sort of like DiMaggio”) and the probable anglicized /ˈmægiː/ (“like in a Rod Stewart song”).
I’ve seen the bouillon cubes nearly all my life (and I was alive during the Eisenhower administration). But I’ve never noticed the sauce. The small market nearest my house has an entire side of an aisle with sauces and related condiments, so I won’t be surprised to find it.
Oh yes, Maggi, a staple of German kitchens for, what, a hundred years? I’ve never had the idea that there could be several different formulas sold under that name and that it was also popular in Asian cooking. I agree that (the German version, the only one I’ve tasted) tastes similar to soy and Worcestershire sauce, but with the distinct lovage flavor **pulykamell **mentioned and rather salty and a tiny bit bitter, but not sour at all (no vinegar in German Maggi), and yes, umami a lot. The taste I encountered that came the nearest was British (I don’t know if there are also varieties) Marmite, and I thought to myself: “Which pervert spreads fucking Maggi on his sandwich?”. In Germany, Maggi is almost exclusively used to pep up soups or stews and for eggs. I always put a few drops of Maggi into my omelettes and scrambled eggs. Some also put it on hard boiled eggs.
Huh. I didn’t know about the different versions. I wonder which one I’ve got? It doesn’t mention lovage on the ingredients, although it’s definitely not the Mexican version. Yellow cap, if that’s any identifier. I got it at a German import shop (shout-out to Kuby’s!) but I’ve seen it at larger supermarkets here in Dallas.
I grew up with a Polish mom and we always had a bottle around, though she took forever to use one up, too. I love the stuff and often crave a spoonful when I’m not feeling well (esp. hungover) and my late husband hated the smell.
Similar experiences to y’all.
… and now, imma have to go have some, just because this thread is making me crave it. I’m a heathen barbarian, so I usually just shake some into my cupped palm and lick.
I’ve seen Maggi in the supermarkets here in MN, but it was 40 years ago or so. I think it was just not used in American cooking so as we got fewer European immigrants, the demand fell and stores stopped carrying it. I have seen it again more recently but I’m not sure if it was in a store or in a friend’s cupboard.
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