vegemite

[harwellplant]

i am having the ocassion to visit with some guests from perth here in the states on a rotary group study exchange, and i was TRICKED into eating vegemite on toast that they had muled in with them. this was perhaps the single worst gastronomic event of my entire life.

what in the hell is that stuff and why do people voluntarily eat it?

[sloth]

» i am having the ocassion to visit with some guests from perth here in the

» states on a rotary group study exchange, and i was TRICKED into eating

» vegemite on toast that they had muled in with them. this was perhaps the

» single worst gastronomic event of my entire life.

»

» what in the hell is that stuff and why do people voluntarily eat it?

Not sure what all is in Vegemite, but I have had its UK cousin Marmite! Marmite is the spent yeast that was used in brewing beer. It has two very important vitamins, of which I cannot remember, and it was rationed during, i think, WWII.

It became a delicacy...A friend of mine ordered it off the web and gave it to me two Christmas's ago. I didn't mind it, but I still have over half a jar left. Does this stuff have a shelf life?

[anacostiakat]

Is it like Vitameatavegamin? ;-)

[Mel]

I've never had the vegemite but by the description it reminds me of a salty soy based spread called Sovex. A little of this stuf goes a long way like a distilled concentrate.

[First Lady]

I feel so very sorry for you :-(

Vegemite is the most horrible thing on this planet ........ if my husband even eats it, he isn't allowed to come anywhere near me until he has brushed his teeth as I can't even tolerate the smell ........Yuk

One of the most eaten foods in Australia........there are some sick people around

TFL

[Ben]

We love our Vegemite.

We all adore our Vegemite.

It puts a rose on every cheek!

[Black Plague]

Awww, Vegemite and Marmite. What a foul, odiferous substance...yet for some reason I like it. But go figure, I drink Laphroaig, which some say is the Scotch whisky equivalent of Vegemite. Only difference being the more Laphroaig the better! :wink:

[Freefallguy]

Mmmmm, Veeeegggeeemite!

My first experience was at the then Park Royale Hotel (now Royal on the Park Hotel) on Alice Street in Brissy… it came out with the brekkie toast and assorted jams in a little packet. I figured while in Oz, do as the Aussies do, right? Unfortunately I used it more like our peanut butter, and spread it on thick. I’d a like to have hurled on the spot.

I was then told post mortem to use it subtly, so as not to be so overpowering… and liked it so much I tucked some away to bring along home with me.

My kids are like Lise however… if I bring the stuff out, they slink away from the table… makes for a good appetizer when you want some me time for a smoke!

[Ginseng]

I've eaten pig's feet, fish eyeballs, deer lungs, eels, ant eggs, agave worms, beef intestine, pig brains, Rocky Mountain oysters, and chicken's reproductive bits...but I will not eat Vegemite again.

Wilkey

[Smokin Bulldog]

What in the hell is this stufff made from?

[harwellplant]

» What in the hell is this stufff made from?

apparantly, freshly harvested *******.

[Mel]

» What in the hell is this stufff made from?

I believe this is the same Sovex that my grandmother used to feed us. Salty as all get out and a little goes a long way. We used it the same way here in the states years ago. Just for as tester question to confirm, how would it taste if you put a whole table spoon of the stuff in your mouth? This stuff is concenrtated ****..

My guess is that it is soy based and hence its name vege.

[Ben]

Everything you never wanted to know about Vegemite

Ever since World War ll Australian troops have depended on Vegemite for a taste of home.

Australian doctors started recommending Vegemite as a convenient source of vitamin B after it was approved by the British Medical Association in 1939.

These days you'll find jars and tubes of Vegemite with Aussie backpackers and travelers the world over.

Vegemite is responsible for giving us a second national song - the "Happy Little Vegemites" jingle and it continues to put a rose in every patriotic cheek.

Vegemite dates back to 1922 when the Fred Walker Company, which became Kraft Walker Foods in 1926 and Kraft Foods Limited in 1950, hired a young chemist to develop a spread from one of the richest known natural sources of the vitamin B group - Brewers Yeast.

Following months of laboratory tests, Dr. Cyril P Callister, who became the nation’s leading food technologist of the 1920s and 30s developed a tasty spreadable paste. It came in a two ounce (57g) amber glass jar capped with a Phoenix seal with the label "Pure Vegetable Extract".

In an imaginative approach, Walker turned to the Australian public to officially name his spread. He conducted a national trade-name competition offering an attractive 50 pound prize pool for the finalists. How the 50 pounds was distributed or who was the winning contestant has unfortunately been lost in history, but it was Walker's daughter who chose the winning name out of the hundreds of entries.

That winning name was Vegemite and in 1923 Vegemite first graced grocers' shelves. It was described as "Delicious on sandwiches and toast, and improves the flavour of soups, stews and gravies". However, it took 14 long years of perseverance from Walker before Vegemite finally gained acceptance and recognition with the Australian people.

[El Presidente]

At the Hotel Nacional in Havana, our breakfast table always had one or two jars of vegemite. We take it everywhere with us ;-)

[harwellplant]

if they bring it to dinner tonight, i may kick them in the head.

[xrundog]

Brewers Yeast? I think that's a myth. I can eat the stuff, but I won't go looking for it. Ya know when you grease a bearing on your car? All the old grease is pushed out. It's black and tarry and smells foul. That's Vegemite!:-)

[xrundog]

You asked about a shelf life. Vegemite, like uranium, has a half-life.:-D

[Ken Gargett]

it is some sort of yeast extract i think. TOXIC VENOMOUS MUCK and i would rather drink a bottle of sauv blanc every night than be forced to even think of eating that mud ever.

dad used to make hot soup from it and serve it to us when we were sick. wonder we survived.

it is for people with bitumen for taste buds. an embarrassment but i hasten to add, it is no longer aussie. i think the septics or the dutch own it.

many years ago in queensland, it was known as 'parcan'. as in if marmite, parcan.

[El Presidente]

Don't listen to Lisa....she also can't stand the taste of lamb, sleeps only with her head facing south and sacrifices live chickens on each full moon.

Vegemite 101 for Hethens Copied for member education © 2002 graham h freeman

1. Firstly, one needs a hunk of bread. None of this new-fangled presliced necromancy for us! I prefer wholegrain, since I find white is bland and starchy and dull. Plus the dietary fibre reportedly helps to prevent bowel cancer and that. Plus you can pick the grains out of your teeth for hours afterwards!

2. Cut off a slice. You won't be able to perform this step on aircraft because breadknives tend to be a bit bitey and people don't like that sort of thing around them on planes. So you might have to go with the sliced bread necromancy.

3. Pop yonder slice into toaster, adjust the dial to your preferred level, and depress the lever. Alternatively, set your neighbours car on fire and toast the bread on that.

4. The star of the show! We might as well get it out now. NB: You cannot do this with Marmite. Marmite is weak and feeble. And as for **** Smith's mooted patriotic alternative, we're expecting that out around the same time as the new Guns'N'Roses album. Then, if we're sufficiently impressed (that'll be a tough ask), we might do a new photo shoot. (Note: It's been nearly four years since I wrote this guide, and Axl still hasn't come up with the goods. Amazing.)

5. Ahh! The toast is ready! Mind that you don't burn your fingers getting it out.

6. You can either use butter, if you don't have a problem with the idea of cows being fondled every morning for your indulgence, or margarine, which may well be made with GM-modified canola oil, the royalties of certain varieties of which bankrolls Monsanto's plan to buy up water rights around the world and resell them at exhorbitant rates, not to mention encouraging the use of Roundup willy-nilly on canola pastures. (But then the manufacturers of Vegemite, Kraft, are owned by Phillip Morris, and they've got karma to spare as well, eh?) Here, we're using some frankensteinian blend of butter and sunflower oil, referred to as 'dairy soft', for this role

7. Smear butter or whatever it is all over toast. Ooooh yeah. Did someone say "Last Tango In Paris"?

8. Finally, scrape up some Vegemite out of the jar, not too much, mind. For a typical slice of toast, two spatules of about this much ought to do. Pity we've thrown the scale out of whack by doing the stylish shot with the background out of focus, but it's about the size of the first knuckle on your index finger. Food stylists for celebrity chef programs we are not.

9. And there you go. All you have to do now is eat it and savour the effect of the salty tang of the Vegemite merging with the gooey butter set against the wheaty crispiness of the immaculately toasted bread. If your face screws up into a gurning cramp whilst eating it, you've obviously used too much. Try again.