Vegemite - an Aussie Tradition

[targa88]

100th anniversary since the release of vegemite.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/25/vegemite-100-years-anniversary-australia-national-treasure

Some would debate whether it is a gourmet delight that would have survived this long...

Personally prefer:

Lamingtons

Meat pies

Other Aussie delights

 

[BrightonCorgi]

I am a fan of Vegemite.

[SCgarman]

"And he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich."  Men at Work 1980s 

[Lamboinee]

I need to try this stuff.... can't believe I haven't yet. 

[Ford2112]

17 minutes ago, Lamboinee said:

I need to try this stuff.... can't believe I haven't yet. 

Well. Maybe I got a bad batch 😆🤢

[Bill Hayes]

It was initially made as a yeast based stock paste to add some saltiness and flavour to stews etc, and unknowingly umami flavour. I think during tough times during war years etc, people took to spreading it on bread. Now, it's mostly enjoyed on toast for breakfast with butter and in simple sandwiches with butter. If I have no beef stock, I use it in slow cooked meat dishes like stews and soups etc. You either love it or hate it but lots of Aussie kids grew up eating it, hence the tradition. I guess it's Aussie Kimchi. Ha ha!

[BrightonCorgi]

4 hours ago, Bill Hayes said:

It was initially made as a yeast based stock paste to add some saltiness and flavour to stews etc, and unknowingly umami flavour. I think during tough times during war years etc, people took to spreading it on bread. Now, it's mostly enjoyed on toast for breakfast with butter and in simple sandwiches with butter. If I have no beef stock, I use it in slow cooked meat dishes like stews and soups etc. You either love it or hate it but lots of Aussie kids grew up eating it, hence the tradition. I guess it's Aussie Kimchi. Ha ha!

I too usually use a little of in a slow cooker meal.  Adds a nice savory dimension like adding an anchovy may.  Sometimes I'll eat a small spoonful for the heck of it.

[First Lady]

I hate the stuff, can't stand the smell . Only child at school without a Vegemite Sandwich for lunch... fine by me 😉

[Ken Gargett]

21 hours ago, Lamboinee said:

I need to try this stuff.... can't believe I haven't yet. 

no one needs to try vegemite. vile, toxic waste. 

[Ken Gargett]

was travelling with a mate in spain some years ago. this is part of something i wrote about the hassles of travelling with this bloke.

Travels with the Colonel.

...... 

We have put down his unexpected grumpiness to the fact that he forgot his Vegemite and as anyone who witnessed 'the Madrid incident' knows, Gaetjens and that black slime are not easily parted.

 

For those not in the northern hemisphere that fateful day, our hero arrived at the Madrid airport for an internal flight, dressed in his prize blue pork pie hat (who travels with a different hat for each day of the week?). He had with him, in his hand luggage, a tube of Vegemite. The unsuspecting woman at Spanish Customs advised him that she was confiscating it (under the 'no paste' rule – or possibly the 'good taste' rule). She was advised, in return, that she was not. Chaos followed and within minutes, a crowd of, without exaggeration, 400 bemused onlookers had gathered to witness the battle.

 

Our hero first regaled the poor woman with tales of the glories of the slime and hence why he should be allowed to take it with him – she had absolutely no idea what it was or what it could be used for but she was not buying this myth that anyone would be so insane as to actually try eating it. When that didn't work, Colin tried identifying the shortcomings of Spanish Customs. That worked about as well as you'd expect. He then moved on to his personal thoughts on Spain itself. As far as I could work out, Spain's greatest crime was... not being France.

 

By now, the crowd was getting restless and offering opinions – I have no idea if they were for or against our intrepid hero but I could take a wild guess. I was calling for a strip search but no one was listening to me.

 

Eventually, telling them that this wasn't over, Colin abandoned his slime (to be honest, it pretty much was all over by then). For the next hour in the airport, I watched little children duck behind the legs of adults to hide when they saw him coming and I am convinced that Spanish parents now put the fear of God into their kids by telling them tales of how the black slime man in the weird hat will come for them in the night if they don't behave.

 

 

[El Presidente]

7 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

no one needs to try vegemite. vile, toxic waste. 

You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You will never understand vegemite 

 

Us poor people saw Vegemite as a saviour  It remains the succour to the Australian masses. The secrets of it's spread take time to master but the study amd commitment are worthwhile in order to walk through the gates of palate heaven. 🙏

[Chas.Alpha]

On 10/25/2023 at 2:05 PM, SCgarman said:

"And he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich."  Men at Work 1980s 

30 + years and I just learned what that line was!!!

[Nevrknow]

9 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said:

30 + years and I just learned what that line was!!!

^....Kind of slow. But we love him.

🤣

Funny thing is, even way back then I thought to myself it has to be horrible even tho I did not know what it was. 😁

[Chas.Alpha]

5 hours ago, Nevrknow said:

^....Kind of slow. But we love him.

 ‘nuff of you…

[Fuzz]

Have a gourmet deconstructed Vegemite on toast.

[BrightonCorgi]

17 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Have a gourmet deconstructed Vegemite on toast.

I hope that is Vegemite

[Ken Gargett]

On 10/27/2023 at 6:37 AM, El Presidente said:

You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You will never understand vegemite 

 

Us poor people saw Vegemite as a saviour  It remains the succour to the Australian masses. The secrets of it's spread take time to master but the study amd commitment are worthwhile in order to walk through the gates of palate heaven. 🙏

rubbish. the old man loved it. my most snobby mate loves it. as usual, you could hardly have got it more wrong. silver spoon? they must have lost it when i came along. 

[BoliDan]

On 10/26/2023 at 1:22 AM, BrightonCorgi said:

I am a fan of Vegemite.

Americans for Vegemite is a Win. As a New Englander, I grew on food that was very much UK and Irish. My favorite city in the US (Boston) agrees. Brother, my mother lives in Hartford. Next time I visit we should had have a get together at a lounge. I lived on beacon and mass ave for 5 years. 

[BrightonCorgi]

6 hours ago, BoliDan said:

Americans for Vegemite is a Win. As a New Englander, I grew on food that was very much UK and Irish. My favorite city in the US (Boston) agrees. Brother My mother lives in Hartford. Next time I visit we should had have a get together at a lounge. I lived on beacon and mass ave for 5 years. 

I knew what Vegemite was as a kid, but wasn't sure what it tasted like.  It wasn't until I was working in Singapore that I really gave it go.  It was a condiment at the buffet and I was curious.  I would've like it as a kid.  Maybe I did have it friends' houses and never knew?

Vegemite wasn't a part of my Sephardic & Russian household pantry growing up.

[BoliDan]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:26 AM, BrightonCorgi said:

I knew what Vegemite was as a kid, but wasn't sure what it tasted like.  It wasn't until I was working in Singapore that I really gave it go.  It was a condiment at the buffet and I was curious.  I would've like it as a kid.  Maybe I did have it friends' houses and never knew?

Vegemite wasn't a part of my Sephardic & Russian household pantry growing up.

Me either. Funny, My father was Eastern Euro and his favorite dishes to cook were Stroganoff and schnitzel. Those might be my two most nostalgia dishes