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the accompanying article is much better, "A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder" ~ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/weekinreview/05gilbertson.html?ref=wee

the accompanying article is much better, "A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder" ~ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/weekinreview/05gilbertson.html?ref=weekinreview http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/weekinreview/05gilbertson.... The bit that caught my eye, "Australians get a dark-brown spreadable yeast-paste treat called Vegemite, for example". I have a picture of the item being described here ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/4961948487/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/4961948487/ which came from a PR1M (Patrol Ration One Man) which I used earlier this year marching 240km for a lost bet on house prices ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/collections/72157623796440209/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/collections/7215762379...

elblanco 16y ago
Vegemite is similar to Marmite that's common in Britain and former colonies. It's loaded with vitamins that can be hard to get in certain situations (like when meat is short). It tastes like a combination of steak, Guinness and soy sauce.
- dazzawazza 16y ago
  > It tastes like a combination of steak, Guinness and soy sauce. That's amazingly accurate except its like a thousand steaks, 1000 pints of Guinness and 1000 litres of soy sauce in a 200ml jar. It's impossible to get over how intense the taste is. Even a wafer thin coating of it is too much on toast.
silentbicycle 16y ago
I have two giant jars (910 g/2 lb each!) of Vegemite, one of which is approaching 2/3 empty. It's lovely stuff, though I can understand people hating it - it's concentrated and has an intense flavor, and people who don't know better probably use waaay too much. It tastes kind of like yeasty soy sauce that has been boiled down to a salty, thick black spread (or very dark, mushroomy miso). It's great scratched on buttery toast or grilled cheese, or as part of a soup stock. It's made from beer yeast dregs, and is loaded with umami and B vitamins. I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups. It adds a lot of depth. I haven't ever tried marmite (as elblanco mentions), but everything I've read has made them sound similar. (I'm not Australian. I'm from Michigan, actually...)
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- sliverstorm 16y ago
  > I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups But can vegetarians eat bacteria? They are animals too.
  - silentbicycle 16y ago
    That depends on how neurotic they are. (Laziest trolling ever, PS. Back to slashdot with you.) I'm suggesting it specifically because vegetarian soups tend to have less umami (the savory, "meaty"/MSG flavor). Non-veg cooks can just simmer bones, etc., but vegetarians need to get umami from mushrooms, grilled root vegetables, boiled parmesan reggiano rinds (which are totally awesome, BTW), miso, etc., and vegemite is another option. It's quite cheap (if you buy it in "I'm going backpacking forever and may not make it back to Australia"-sized jars) and keeps forever (what's it going to do...become more salty?), so it's pretty convenient.
    - sliverstorm 16y ago
      Not trolling, I am just amused at the arbitrary lines-in-the-sand I occasionally see vegetarians and vegans drawing, and was curious about their outlook on this matter.
      - silentbicycle 16y ago
        A lot of people have identities based on loud-but-poorly-thought-out politics/ideologies. Vocal / recent-convert / squeamish teenage vegetarians are hardly unique in this regard, and nor does it mean that intelligent people haven't arrived at similar conclusions for reasons that aren't vapid. As with most things, though, the loud "I believe so hard in cause X" people tend to drown out the thoughtful ones. (Also, the vegetarians I've known have been more pragmatic than the vegans, who are generally more ideological.) The only group I've seen seriously struggle with the whole "OMG I'm killing bacteria by breathing, what should I do" issue are the Jains, and I find them pretty silly. (I'm not a vegetarian, but when I was...I still found them pretty silly.) Some vegetarians are amazing cooks, too. Constraints can really drive creativity.

elblanco 16y ago

Vegemite is similar to Marmite that's common in Britain and former colonies. It's loaded with vitamins that can be hard to get in certain situations (like when meat is short). It tastes like a combination of steak, Guinness and soy sauce.

dazzawazza 16y ago
> It tastes like a combination of steak, Guinness and soy sauce. That's amazingly accurate except its like a thousand steaks, 1000 pints of Guinness and 1000 litres of soy sauce in a 200ml jar. It's impossible to get over how intense the taste is. Even a wafer thin coating of it is too much on toast.

silentbicycle 16y ago

I have two giant jars (910 g/2 lb each!) of Vegemite, one of which is approaching 2/3 empty. It's lovely stuff, though I can understand people hating it - it's concentrated and has an intense flavor, and people who don't know better probably use waaay too much. It tastes kind of like yeasty soy sauce that has been boiled down to a salty, thick black spread (or very dark, mushroomy miso). It's great scratched on buttery toast or grilled cheese, or as part of a soup stock. It's made from beer yeast dregs, and is loaded with umami and B vitamins. I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups. It adds a lot of depth. I haven't ever tried marmite (as elblanco mentions), but everything I've read has made them sound similar. (I'm not Australian. I'm from Michigan, actually...)

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
sliverstorm 16y ago
> I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups But can vegetarians eat bacteria? They are animals too.
- silentbicycle 16y ago
  That depends on how neurotic they are. (Laziest trolling ever, PS. Back to slashdot with you.) I'm suggesting it specifically because vegetarian soups tend to have less umami (the savory, "meaty"/MSG flavor). Non-veg cooks can just simmer bones, etc., but vegetarians need to get umami from mushrooms, grilled root vegetables, boiled parmesan reggiano rinds (which are totally awesome, BTW), miso, etc., and vegemite is another option. It's quite cheap (if you buy it in "I'm going backpacking forever and may not make it back to Australia"-sized jars) and keeps forever (what's it going to do...become more salty?), so it's pretty convenient.
  - sliverstorm 16y ago
    Not trolling, I am just amused at the arbitrary lines-in-the-sand I occasionally see vegetarians and vegans drawing, and was curious about their outlook on this matter.
    - silentbicycle 16y ago
      A lot of people have identities based on loud-but-poorly-thought-out politics/ideologies. Vocal / recent-convert / squeamish teenage vegetarians are hardly unique in this regard, and nor does it mean that intelligent people haven't arrived at similar conclusions for reasons that aren't vapid. As with most things, though, the loud "I believe so hard in cause X" people tend to drown out the thoughtful ones. (Also, the vegetarians I've known have been more pragmatic than the vegans, who are generally more ideological.) The only group I've seen seriously struggle with the whole "OMG I'm killing bacteria by breathing, what should I do" issue are the Jains, and I find them pretty silly. (I'm not a vegetarian, but when I was...I still found them pretty silly.) Some vegetarians are amazing cooks, too. Constraints can really drive creativity.