I've heard about Marmite(UK) and Vegemite(Down Under) for years, and have gotten more and more curious over the years, so the other day when I was at the store and saw a small jar, I bought it on a whim. Why not,
I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. If I can skydive, then I can eat Marmite. I did a bit of research to see how to eat the stuff. On toast or on toast with cheddar seemed like a common option. There were several warnings to spread it thin so I followed the warnings.
The first glimpse when I opened the jar wasn't so bad, smooth and brown. No big deal, chocolate frosting and nutella are both smooth and brown. Then I dipped a butter knife into it and started to stir, hmmm, the top 1/8" or so was darker brown than the rest and it looked more like really old axle grease than food. I was starting to have second thoughts, but I had gotten this far and wasn't going to be disuaded. Fortunately, it didn't smell like a catfish that had been in a gym sock in a box on the beach in Louisiana in the summer, or that might have stopped me.
I made some toast with butter, spread on the marmite pretty thinly. It was hard to spread. It's really thick and very sticky, so even with toasted bread, it starts to tear the bread. You definitely don't end up with a nice even coating. I figured that was ok, it would give me some spots with less and some with more to vary the amount of flavor. I was going to put some cheese on half of the toast and have the other half plain. I went to the fridge and discover that my son had finished off the sharp cheddar and not told anyone, typical. I probably did the same thing when I was young. Well, I had some shredded 4 cheese "Mexican Blend" in the fridge. I'm sure it wasn't ideal, but it would have to do.
I finally had the toast ready and was a bit trepidatious about taking that first bite. I expected it to be like being kicked in the mouth by a skin head after he had been in the mosh pit all night.
I was shocked. It actually wasn't bad at all. It's definitely salty, very salty. About the only thing that I'm aware of besides salt that may be more salty is anchovies. Fortunately, I had spread it thin. It did have a very savory, meaty flavor. I can't describe it exactly, but I kind of liked it. I don't think I'll have any problem finishing the jar, but I probably won't be eating it every day. I bought more cheddar today, and might run down and finish my son's loaf of bread.
I'd like to hear more uses for it or how you guys eat it.
I can see it on sandwiches, maybe on a burger or something. One use that I found online is to put in on fresh raw veggies like a dip (in very small quantities).
I don't think that I even had it this thickly spread.
All in all, not bad stuff. I was pleasantly surprised.