Adventures Making Vegemite
daveon.design
daveon.design
It is certainly much sweeter than vege/marmite, and I am not sure the remainig taste could be classified as umami. But it has a very distinctive taste.
And, if I am completely wrong, at least I can claim that the consistency and color is similar to vege/marmite.
It’s basically solid whey that’s gone through a Maillard reaction to make a sweet, salty cheese like stuff.
We made some a few years back, but couldn’t get it to turn out as aell as the commercial stuff.
If I remember correctly the trick was in the stirring. Either not stir at all (with the risk of burning), or stir all the time to keep it from crystalizing.
Edit: and yes geitost is the goat-whey version.
I wonder if the shock value is derived from an expectation of chocolatey sweetness. If you’re expecting Nutella, Vegemite is guaranteed to disappoint.
My family would say I'm obsessed with Marmite. I had Marmite on crumpets for breakfast. Only about 50% of the people in my family like Marmite - it is that sort of thing. Either you love it or hate it!
When I was travelling I could only get Vegemite and I came to appreciate that too. It's not Marmite but it is quite similar and will certainly do :-)
My father and sister used to enjoy eating Bovril ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovril ) which is similar to Marmite/Vegemite but made with meat extract instead of yeast extract. I've never been a big fan, and jokingly we used to call it BSE ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopat... ) in a jar.
The Marmite shortage in the pandemic was terrible but luckily I managed to score a catering sized tub which lasted us out the shortage.
(Taskmaster UK, Season 5: Make Marmite. The show is hilarious and I recommend season 5 as a jumping in point to see if you like it.)
Oh, and the absolute best advert for Marmite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFLHialhZ8c
He had just been engaged in the process of pondering how awfully civilised the Brits were when he bit into it.
"This milk's gone bad!", he cried he as he spat it out.
It was way better than a spoonful of peanut paste, which was just over-the-top, way too much, and left your mouth and teeth gummed up and gagging.
Milo was also not unknown, albeit a smaller teaspoon, because it too was pretty intense.
But the king of the "instant spoonful of food" category was powdered milk. You had to more-or-less hyperventilate first, because you weren't going to be breathing for a while without making a lot of mess, but the gummy, sweet, mouthful of saliva-mixed-with-milk-powder was good enough that the difficulty of doing it successfully was kinda worth it.
I'm somewhat tempted to try a teaspoon of Vegemite now, you know "for science", but perhaps it's better left as just a memory.
As Vegemite-ers know, there's absolutely no point discussing Vegemite with those from overseas, especially Americans, let alone trying to get them to taste it. It's a total waste of time! What's more it's potentially risky—a foreigner could likely file assault charges on grounds of attempted poisoning.
For the record, I'll eat spoonfuls of the stuff and others around me have been known to hide it away save there being none left. Recently, I've taken to the salt reduced version and I actually rather like it (and I suppose 40% salt reduction is a good thing).
Quite some years ago a relative of mine who's living in the US packed eight of the largest jars made to stockpile in his Vegemite-forsaken adopted homeland and apparently US Customs started prodding the jars looking for illicit substances. From what I can gather he wasn't arrested nor were the jars confiscated.
I generally like strong flavors (Matcha, fermented foods, heavy garlic, didn’t hate Durian) so it was a welcome find!
From my observation, there are (roughly) two types of people who love Vegemite, Marmite, Promite, etc.—those who like strong flavors like you and I do and those who are brought up on it from not long after they've been weaned.
If you check out the YouTube link in my other comment you'll note it's aimed at kids. For example, when I was in primary school kids (me included) would often have Vegemite and lettuce sandwiches (kids just wouldn't eat lettuce sandwiches alone). As contrast, our second sandwich would be something quite different (honey and peanut butter, ham and tomato, etc.).
I eat chilies, curries and such and was introduced to them very young too, so no doubt that helped. But not completely, some of my liking for strong flavors was innate. I recall when I was about 5 going on 6 my mother made me weak tea with lots of milk and sugar. One day I told her not to put sugar in my tea and only one week later told her to stop the milk and to make it stronger, ever since I've only ever drunk it sans milk and sugar (I simply won't drink tea if either is added).
It's nice, of course, but like chamomile or earl grey - subtle delicacies to be savoured, rather than reveling in the glorious boldness of it all.
Try asafoetida.
Not so fast my friend! Ich bin ein sheiz Ami who is no stranger to sesos, lengua, offal, Asian ingenuity and piping hot street food spanning four continents.
Describe the Vegemite. On biscuits or toast? If with beer, a pilsner or stout? Please.
I think the "soy sauce in solid form" is a pretty good beginner description but of course it is also quite distinct.
There are schools of vegemite thought too; warm or hot toast? Slather the vegemite on or just add dabs on top of melting butter?
I imagine most people from soy sauce eating countries in Asia would understand the flavor profile, it might be more the combination with toast that feels unexpected.
We also dip buttered toast into softboil eggs with soya sauce and pepper so make of that what you will lol
Nostalgia ...
Disclosure: I am an American, I live in Australia, I like my Vegemite thin and my peanut butter thick :-)
Whilst funny, the problems with pranks like this is that Americans start to armour up and don't listen to important advice we give them, e.g putting vegemite behind the ears with a couple of forks when going through dropbeae heavy regions. This is why so many of the poor buggers end up mauled or even dead.
Also, the article compares Vegemite to soy sauce. While Vegemite is salty, black and umami flavoured, I think it is more similar to Japanese miso soup.
Also, Vegemite and avocado is a great pair. As is Vegemite and a hard chrap cheese like tasty cheese.
Ah, a peron after my own heart. It's nice to know I'm not alone out there. ;-)
Jesus, Craig - what the hell were you thinking!?!?
"You want to try some?"
"Sure!"
So one of us got a tablespoon and said, "Open wide."
The moral is, don't trust us Australians when it comes to local cuisine or fauna (or the intersection thereof.)
Did they head straight for the airport? ;-)
Somehow i grew up in a mixed household that had both because my mum preferred Vegemite and I prefer Marmite.
In NYC it’s fairly easy to get Australian Vegemite but sadly impossible to find NZ Marmite, instead I do a bulk order every couple of years so that I have a stockpile :)
There's 3 very distinct camps in NZ. Love Marmite - what's wrong with you Vegemite people Love Vegemite - what's wrong with you Marmite people None of the above - what's wrong with the lot of you
:)
I had to tell my mum off for having Vegemite in her pantry the other day, but she had a decent enough excuse that made me giggle. "I buy vegemite because it comes in glass jars and I can reuse them!"
oh... I guess that's... practical, Mum!
I love marmite, I loved twiglets. Then I was forced to go gluten-free. That ruled out both Marmite and Twiglets, also the default Vegemite.
I've yet to find gluten-free Twiglets, but thankfully there are gluten-free alts for Marmite and a GF Vegemite. As a Brit, Marmite takes the crown though.
I need to try Marmite or Vegemite.
As a Vegemite addict, I find Twiglets (despite the Marmite) compulsively addictive. Fortunately, they're hard to find over here, hence my addiction is under control.
BTW, I also like Marmite but not as much a Vegemite. When I was a kid, we had both at home, my mother favored Marmite, and as the ad goes, the rest of us were happy little Vegemites: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LZF3FBh-n_8
My guess would be that there's some industrial process that completely separates any yeast from anything else so as to remove any potential hop bitterness. And that there's also likely been some updates to the process over the years. It may have started out as boiling things down in the 1920s, but may have moved on to an enzyme catalyzed process these days?
On the idea of using a stout: you will end up with even more bitterness than the version you made, more than likely. Stouts (especially higher alcohol stouts) tend to be fairly generously hopped compared to a standard light lager, in order to balance the sweetness of the added malt. You just don't taste them as being super hoppy because a) the hops are added early in the boil for bittering and most of the volatile aromas boil off, and b) because, well, they're doing their job of balancing the sweet malts to make the beer not taste sickly sweet.
Re process, the linked video talks about using a centrifuge to separate the yeast and liquid, and in fact improvised a home-made centrifuge using a washing machine. It’s possible that simply skimming the top of a settled mixture is not nearly as effective and yeast contamination led to some of poor flavor notes.
As for stouts: noted, thanks, looks like I need another approach. The main reason was not just bitterness but colour: to start with a dark liquid to get a black end product. Any thoughts on how both Vegemite and Marmite end up so black?
The Alexandrov Ensemble (RiP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=W_roE45-AIU
I love it, but I think a lot of non-Aussies don't recognise the similarities.
- Vegemite eater is like the obnoxious drunk that crashes your party
- Regular Marmite is the homeless guy drinking whiskey under a bridge
- XO Marmite [1] is the homeless guy drinking meths under a bridge
I'm in the last category.
[1] https://www.marmite.co.uk/p/marmite-xo-yeast-extract-extra-o...
[edit: url fixed, thanks ofrzeta]
https://www.marmite.co.uk/p/marmite-xo-yeast-extract-extra-o...
Having said that, Marmite is clearly vastly superior and has a deeper umami taste than the slightly fake industrial plastic taste of Vegemite.
Careful though, I bought a jar of New Zealand Marmite once, thinking it was the same thing as real Marmite, given the same brand name, but, it was barely even passable as 'cooking marmite', let alone on hot buttered toast.
Huh. I'd say Vegemite is clearly vastly superior as it doesn't have that artificial sweetness taste added to it.
However, as a child I went through a phase of eating Bovril on toast. Looking forward with not a little apprehension to "Adventures in making Bovril".
Slightly surprised to find Bundaberg is actually drunk by Aussie's - cynical me always assumed it was marketing like Fosters.
For people who like that sort of thing, it might be worth looking at Euthymol toothpaste. It tastes like a mix of root beer, jagermeister, germolene antiseptic and pink.
* This could just be the next sentence
[*] My wife told me the same thing :)
The first time I tried it, I gooped it on like jam. Don't do that!
I learned this from my Aussie friend.
I'd forgive them though, perhaps. They might have been thinking to convert you slowly. The big reveal can be overwhelming over the age of one.
> The trick is not to spread it thickly like peanut butter; instead, you take about a quarter of a teaspoon’s worth and scrape it thinly over the entire slice.
"The band U2 are very Marmite"
* Vegemite is very salty.
* Vegemite is very salty.
I personally don't understand the war between marmite and vegemite. Nor the craze about reducing the salt. They are both an acquired taste but really staple food once you get used to it. I wouldn't want to start a day without marmite (or vegemite) on some hot buttered toast.
“I cannot hold a man so close, who spreads this cancer on his toast…”