# Vegemite



## IrishLass (Dec 9, 2019)

I thought I'd start this thread instead of clogging up the Word Association game in response to *this post* by Relle in regards to Vegemite.

I think I'm going to bite the proverbial bullet and try some, since according to the website of my local World Market, which is about 15 minutes away from my house, it's an item that they keep in stock on the shelf. I hope they don't sell out before I'm able to make a trip over there!

Anyway....in the post that I linked to above, Relle was responding to some squeamish comments in regards to Vegemite by stating that it's actually lovely and that there's a proper way to eat it (i.e., not spreading it on like peanut butter). Curious me who has never, ever tried Vegemite googled "How to eat Vegemite" and a clip of Hugh Jackman showing Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show how to properly eat it popped up. Hugh actually brought a toaster onstage at The Tonight Show along with bread & butter and Vegemite and showed skeptical Jimmy how it was properly done, and Jimmy and everyone else on stage who tried it properly made by Hugh Jackman actually ended up liking it.

It sounds like it would be lovely mixed in with mashed avocado and then spread on a bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich in place of the usual mayonnaise. It also sounds like it would lend a great umami boost to homemade soup stock and gravies.

I know we have a lot of Aussies here on board, so how do y'all enjoy your Vegemite?


IrishLass 


Edited to add:


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## KiwiMoose (Dec 9, 2019)

YAY!  Vegemite!  I love it with lashings of butter on my toast.  And I love Hugh Jackman too 
Yes - it can indeed be a booster for homemade gravies and casseroles, but you don't need much.  My mum used to make cheese and vegemite or lettuce and vegemite sandwiches for me to take to school when I was a kid ( I got a bit sick of them everyday actually).
Be aware that the British vegemite is not as nice - it has a 'runny honey' type consistency and it's not as black - more a brownish colour.
My best tip for eating it ( but this is very much my way and others turn their noses up at it) is to let the toast cool slightly before putting your butter on.  Don't let the butter melt into the toast, but leave it in little clumps on the surface.  Dot your vegemite sparingly on top of the butter.  Nom nom.


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## Lynnz (Dec 9, 2019)

YES KiwiMoose I sooooooo agree, colder is better. I used to eat Marmite but after 12yr in Aussie I am now very much a Vegemite fan


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## Lynnz (Dec 9, 2019)

IrishLass said:


> I thought I'd start this thread instead of clogging up the Word Association game in response to *this post* by Relle in regards to Vegemite.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Mmmmmmmm I like the sound of the blt with a slithering of Marmite!


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## LilyJo (Dec 9, 2019)

In the uk we have marmite not vegemite.....


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## KiwiMoose (Dec 9, 2019)

LilyJo said:


> In the uk we have marmite not vegemite.....


Oh sorry - my bad - it must be the Marmite that is runnier than NZ Marmite then.


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## sirtim100 (Dec 9, 2019)

And how dare @KiwiMoose say that Marmite is not as nice as Vegemite: some ghastly antipodean copy of a grand British tradition. Much like other British traditions, copied down under and then proclaimed to be better than the original. Take rugby, for example, erh, no, let's not take rugby. What about cricket? No, better not. Anyway as I was saying, Marmite is a grand British tradition that I mention at Spanish dinner parties to provoke shock, horror and nausea amongst the guests. Never fails... I never get invited again.

The best method by far of eating Marmite, or that appalling goo called Vegemite, is on a very generously buttered toasted crumpet. By generous, I mean generous, like profligate. However, you must apply a very fine coating of Marmite (or its sad, sorry southern imitation) and eat immediately, letting the butter geyser its way out of the holes in the crumpet. The secret is in fine, apply too much and the flavour is overpowering. 

Other ways to consume Marmite include heavily buttered toast, heavily buttered toasted muffins, heavily buttered toasted anything, really. 

And, if you really have absolutely no other alternative, you can use Vegemite, but, well, there's just no knowing what went into it, is there? Baby kangaroo tallow, emu grease, the mind simply boggles...



Lynnz said:


> YES KiwiMoose I sooooooo agree, colder is better. I used to eat Marmite but after 12yr in Aussie I am now very much a Vegemite fan



You see what I mean? Would you really trust a country whose inhabitants actually prefer to eat lukewarm toast???


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## Jeboz (Dec 9, 2019)

KiwiMoose said:


> YAY!  Vegemite!  I love it with lashings of butter on my toast.  And I love Hugh Jackman too
> Yes - it can indeed be a booster for homemade gravies and casseroles, but you don't need much.  My mum used to make cheese and vegemite or lettuce and vegemite sandwiches for me to take to school when I was a kid ( I got a bit sick of them everyday actually).
> Be aware that the British vegemite is not as nice - it has a 'runny honey' type consistency and it's not as black - more a brownish colour.
> My best tip for eating it ( but this is very much my way and others turn their noses up at it) is to let the toast cool slightly before putting your butter on.  Don't let the butter melt into the toast, but leave it in little clumps on the surface.  Dot your vegemite sparingly on top of the butter.  Nom nom.


Where's the emoji with drool dripping out if its mouth?



sirtim100 said:


> And how dare @KiwiMoose say that Marmite is not as nice as Vegemite: some ghastly antipodean copy of a grand British tradition. Much like other British traditions, copied down under and then proclaimed to be better than the original. Take rugby, for example, erh, no, let's not take rugby. What about cricket? No, better not. Anyway as I was saying, Marmite is a grand British tradition that I mention at Spanish dinner parties to provoke shock, horror and nausea amongst the guests. Never fails... I never get invited again.
> 
> The best method by far of eating Marmite, or that appalling goo called Vegemite, is on a very generously buttered toasted crumpet. By generous, I mean generous, like profligate. However, you must apply a very fine coating of Marmite (or its sad, sorry southern imitation) and eat immediately, letting the butter geyser its way out of the holes in the crumpet. The secret is in fine, apply too much and the flavour is overpowering.
> 
> ...


I concur with the heavily buttered anything - it's the same with vegemite.

I thought this was going to be someone soaping with vegemite. I was quite excited.   I wonder if it would bring anything to soap? Salt for one, I guess. Good selling point possibly for homesick Aussies maybe?


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## KiwiMoose (Dec 9, 2019)

sirtim100 said:


> And, if you really have absolutely no other alternative, you can use Vegemite, but, well, there's just no knowing what went into it, is there? Baby kangaroo tallow, emu grease, the mind simply boggles...


Not in the Kiwi version   We don't have those animals here.


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## justjacqui (Dec 9, 2019)

It is considered to be un-Australian if you don't like Vegemite.   

I craved Vegemite during my pregnancy! I love it on some buttered toast just like Hugh Jackman!


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## Zany_in_CO (Dec 9, 2019)

Been there; done that. I'll take Hugh Jackman and pass on the Vegemite... I really don't get it. 
Thanks for posting the video, *@IrishLass*


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## beckster51 (Dec 10, 2019)

Sorry, but I put vegemite and marmite in the same category as fish roe, i.e. caviar.  I think it is an acquired taste or something that you love because you grew up eating it.  I've tried, but I just can't.  I'm sure there is something that I eat that others would find appalling.


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## Kari Howie (Dec 10, 2019)

sirtim100 said:


> And how dare @KiwiMoose say that Marmite is not as nice as Vegemite: some ghastly antipodean copy of a grand British tradition. Much like other British traditions, copied down under and then proclaimed to be better than the original. Take rugby, for example, erh, no, let's not take rugby. What about cricket? No, better not. Anyway as I was saying, Marmite is a grand British tradition that I mention at Spanish dinner parties to provoke shock, horror and nausea amongst the guests. Never fails... I never get invited again.
> 
> The best method by far of eating Marmite, or that appalling goo called Vegemite, is on a very generously buttered toasted crumpet. By generous, I mean generous, like profligate. However, you must apply a very fine coating of Marmite (or its sad, sorry southern imitation) and eat immediately, letting the butter geyser its way out of the holes in the crumpet. The secret is in fine, apply too much and the flavour is overpowering.
> 
> ...


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## Kari Howie (Dec 10, 2019)

Does anyone know what Marmite and Vegemite are made up of?


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## Megan (Dec 10, 2019)

I like Marmite, but have never tried Vegemite. I know there's a rivalry there, but I bet I would like Vegemite too. They are both made of yeast extract. Little disclaimer though, I'm an erstwhile vegan (there are a lot of yeast related items promoted for health reasons, B-12 and the like), married to an ethnic Chinese man...so I'm used to eating foods that some westerners might find strange (lots of fermented/preserved things and such, a lot of strong tastes). I have always had adventurous taste in food, my parents wonder where I got it from!


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## sirtim100 (Dec 10, 2019)

Kari Howie said:


> Does anyone know what Marmite and Vegemite are made up of?



Marmite is made of fine, healthy, yeast extract.

Vegemite is made of koala tallow.

I am in no way biased as to either product, but would you really want to eat something made from those adorable, eucalyptus-leaf-munching marsupials?


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## Zany_in_CO (Dec 10, 2019)

sirtim100 said:


> Vegemite is made of koala tallow.


bwahaha. A low blow, but funny!


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## IrishLass (Dec 10, 2019)

Jeboz said:


> Where's the emoji with drool dripping out if its mouth?








Jeboz said:


> I concur with the heavily buttered anything



Me, too! 



Kari Howie said:


> Does anyone know what Marmite and Vegemite are made up of?



I've been getting quite the webucation about Marmite and Vegemite the past few days. I had no idea there were 2 different Marmites- the original British and the latter day New Zealand version! From what I understand, it is as Megan said- Marmite (both versions) and Vegemite are  made of yeast extract...... and they are rich in the vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B9..... although I still haven't been able to nail down with 100% surety whether the B-vitamins are naturally occurring or added.......I've read it both ways on different sites. Hopefully some of our Aussies and Kiwis and Brits will be able to clear up the confusion. 

The yeast utilized by both versions of Marmite and Vegemite is the spent brewers yeast discarded from selective beer breweries. First it is autolyzed to break down the yeast cells, then concentrated down and mixed with salt.......then from there each seem to go their own separate ways in terms of whatever else they add to their concoction. I've heard different things added (or not added) like malt extract, vegetable extract, sugar, caramel color, spices, etc...........and possibly koala or baby kangaroo tallow and emu grease according to a source from Spain, but I can't 100% confirm that.   

I'm going to try to make a trip over to my local World Market today. Apparently, they sell both Vegemite and Marmite (the one made in Britain). 


IrishLass


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## Dawni (Dec 10, 2019)

I've never tried it but I wouldn't say no if you gave it to me slathered on Hugh Jackman, butter or no butter bwahahaha

Seriously though, I'm also adventurous. If I can eat mangrove woodworms (delicacy down south) and roasted roaches (NOT the stuff from the sewer, please) and candy apples rolled in some type of maggot looking thing (alive!) I'm sure I can take vegemite.


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## KiwiMoose (Dec 10, 2019)

SO we can all agree on Hugh Jackman then.  I mean who wouldn't want Hugh Jackman - where's that drooling emoji again @IrishLass?


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## Mobjack Bay (Dec 10, 2019)

I’m sticking with caviar, especially if Hugh Jackman wants to put it on toast for me.


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## sirtim100 (Dec 10, 2019)

Post-imperial whining and moaning aside, I've heard that both spreads are made with yeast extract with added B-vitamin complex, although brewer's yeast is a naturally occurring source of the whole gamut of B vitamins, so I can't see why adding anything is necessary.

Vegemite is darker and thicker, and nicer according to those who've tried both (I only grew up on Marmite, so...)

The truth is it's been so long since I ate any Marmite that I've almost forgottent what it tastes like. In Spain, Marmite is viewed as something equivalent to eating burnt rubber: nasty and ultimately useless. I can see their point. After 30 years of eating jamon serrano, octopus, king prawns, paella, roast lamb and other delicacies, Marmite strikes me as pretty poor fare, can't say I miss anything else classified as part of the great British diet, either...

Having said all that, I still harbour suspicions that koalas have been culled to give Vegemite more "substance"

And if Hugh Jackman is needed to sell something, you can bet that whatever he's advertising just has to be a bit dodgy...


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## Relle (Dec 11, 2019)

IrishLass said:


> It sounds like it would be lovely mixed in with mashed avocado and then spread on a bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich in place of the usual mayonnaise.



DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT do the above.
Toast - then butter hot toast, put on small amount of vegemite or a sanger (sandwich) - butter, vegemite, thinly sliced cheese.
My mother use to add it to gravy for colour and flavour. Gravy - drippings from the cooked meat, throw in some flour cook stirring with a fork, add some vegemite then water, stir until done.
Vita wheat biscuits





Spread with butter then vegemite, put another biscuit on top, then squeeze. The vege/butter squeeze out the holes, then you lick it off.
You can't do this anymore they closed up the holes in 2016 .
Pommies eat Marmite and if you have eaten marmite you probably won't eat vegemite because you'll still be trying to get the taste of marmite off your tongue.   See, it's still there.


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## sirtim100 (Dec 11, 2019)

Relle said:


> Pommies eat Marmite and if you have eaten marmite you probably won't eat vegemite because you'll still be trying to get the taste of marmite off your tongue.   See, it's still there.



Touché


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## Kari Howie (Dec 11, 2019)

What are Pommies?


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## Microchick (Dec 11, 2019)

Kari Howie said:


> What are Pommies?


A derogatory term that Aussies use for Brits, back in the day for British immigrants.  So it’s more tongue-in-cheek now I think.  Am I correct, Relle?


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## Kari Howie (Dec 11, 2019)

Look what I found:
A derogatory word used to refer to a Brit, derived from the acronym POME(Prisoner of Mother England).
Oi, that Pommie bastard stole all mechips.


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## sirtim100 (Dec 11, 2019)

The etymology isn't that clear, but POME isn't accepted as an origin. The version given by St. Wikipedia is different. 

When I lived in Turkey, a lot of Aussies and Kiwis passed through where I was based and one of them, a brilliant girl from Melbourne, often called me a pom. And my youngest sister is a definite pom, she emigrated years ago and now lives in Sydney.


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## KiwiMoose (Dec 11, 2019)

We have a friend here - my oldest sister's best mate and her name, as far as we are concerned is Pommie.  My partner mentioned her the other day and said "Leigh told me that blah blah....".  I said who's Leigh?  he said "Pommie!"  LOL - we never call her Leigh.

Oh and @Relle - I LOVE it when the butter and vegemite squishes through the holes in my cracker.  Snax (orRitz for the Americans) are also yummy with butter and vegemite.


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## Relle (Dec 11, 2019)

If you know the aussie sense of humour we laugh at everyone including ourselves, pommie is not derogatory at all. Even pommies call themselves pommie.


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## IrishLass (Dec 11, 2019)

Yay.....I finally made it to my local World Market and bought me some Vegemite and (British) Marmite! When I got back home the first thing I did was unscrew the lids and smell them. The Vegemite smelled somewhat like a savory bullion would smell like, while the Marmite, interestingly enough, smelled almost a bit like dark chocolate with a salty/sweet, almost caramel-like note to it, which I was not expecting.....and which made me look the jar over just to make sure I didn't accidentally buy a specialty flavored Marmite or something, lol, but all was in good order-  it was the proper British Marmite. 

Next,  I popped a slice of bread in my toaster (Sorry Mr. Jackman....no fluffy white bread- I only keep whole wheat bread in the house), slathered the resulting toast with room temp butter which melted immediately on contact (just the way I like it), cut the toast in half, then thinly scraped about a pea-sized bit of Vegemite on one half and did the same with the Marmite on the other half. 

I decided to try the Vegemite half first............. Verdict? Well, goodness me- I actually found it to be quite lovely and not at all deserving of all the nasty things spoken of it......at least to my taste buds anyway! lol It added a very nice, pleasant savory/saltiness and a somewhat malty/yeasty flavor to the buttered toast, making it taste like it was made from a quality slice of hearty, artisan bread. Quite yummy! 

Encouraged, I then tried the Marmite half......Verdict? Wow, I was not expecting such a marked difference in the taste profile, but it was like night and day to my tongue! What I mean is that while the Vegemite came across to me as 100% savory/salty, the Marmite came across as _sweet_/salty. I was hoping it also might taste as chocolaty as it smelled to my nose in the jar , but alas, it did not (heavy sigh). Once my buds got past the sweet factor, I found that it tasted just as salty/malty/yeasty as the Vegemite. 

Lastly, I daringly spooned out about a 1/4 pea-size of each and tasted each of them naked on their own. Yikes! When eaten that way, I completely understand why so many use negative terms like 'nasty', 'vile', and 'disgusting' to describe them! But just like the fish sauce I was so squeamish to use in my pho broth until I actually tried it and liked my broth better with it, if you use it in the way it was designed to be used, i.e. sparingly, it's some pretty awesome stuff.                       

All in all, my bottom-line opinion is that I find that they taste very much like each other, only one is savory and the other is sweet.  

So, the question of the day is, 'Do I prefer one over the other?' Yes- definitely!  The Aussie's savory Vegemite has won me over! 


IrishLass


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## KiwiMoose (Dec 12, 2019)

IrishLass said:


> Yay.....I finally made it to my local World Market and bought me some Vegemite and (British) Marmite! When I got back home the first thing I did was unscrew the lids and smell them. The Vegemite smelled somewhat like a savory bullion would smell like, while the Marmite, interestingly enough, smelled almost a bit like dark chocolate with a salty/sweet, almost caramel-like note to it, which I was not expecting.....and which made me look the jar over just to make sure I didn't accidentally buy a specialty flavored Marmite or something, lol, but all was in good order-  it was the proper British Marmite.
> 
> Next,  I popped a slice of bread in my toaster (Sorry Mr. Jackman....no fluffy white bread- I only keep whole wheat bread in the house), slathered the resulting toast with room temp butter which melted immediately on contact (just the way I like it), cut the toast in half, then thinly scraped about a pea-sized bit of Vegemite on one half and did the same with the Marmite on the other half.
> 
> ...


You should do food writing! Excellent analysis.


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## Relle (Dec 12, 2019)

Yeahhhhh Irishlass, now you have something you like that's different for your toast. Stay away, stay away from that BLTV.


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## IrishLass (Dec 12, 2019)

Relle said:


> Yeahhhhh Irishlass, now you have something you like that's different for your toast. Stay away, stay away from that BLTV.



I don't know.....I'm still very tempted to do it, Relle..... more so now than ever now that I'm enamored of it! Call me crazy, but I'm even tempted to blasphemously leave the bacon out and make it a VLT! 




IrishLass


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## KiwiMoose (Dec 12, 2019)

IrishLass said:


> I don't know.....I'm still very tempted to do it, Relle..... more so now than ever now that I'm enamored of it! Call me crazy, but I'm even tempted to blasphemously leave the bacon out and make it a VLT!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Mum used to make me cheese, lettuce and vegemite sandwiches as a kid, so this could work. Just remember - always with lashings of butter.


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## Jeboz (Dec 12, 2019)

Relle said:


> Spread with butter then vegemite, put another biscuit on top, then squeeze. The vege/butter squeeze out the holes, then you lick it off.
> You can't do this anymore they closed up the holes in 2016 .
> Pommies eat Marmite and if you have eaten marmite you probably won't eat vegemite because you'll still be trying to get the taste of marmite off your tongue.   See, it's still there.



Yes - vegemite worms, I remember fondly.


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## Relle (Dec 12, 2019)

KiwiMoose said:


> Mum used to make me cheese, lettuce and vegemite sandwiches as a kid, so this could work. Just remember - always with lashings of butter.


As kiwi said the above works well . I remember the CLV sangers for lunch. Haven't had that for years.


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