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South Africa is running out of Marmite
- hilbert42 5y agoPolite advice: I'd suggest that only those from the UK, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia and other outposts where black yeast extracts are consumed comment on this story. Those in the US and elsewhere can watch on in amusement. Warning: Australians and other Vegemite consumers please refrain from denigrating lovers of Marmite. :-)
- dghughes 5y agoI don't think it ever caught on in Canada. I've don't recall ever hearing of anyone talking about Marmite. Neither grandparents or any ancestor stories, no talk of it.
- lebuffon 5y agoMarmite is available in many grocery stores in here but commonly in the international foods aisle. My local store (rural Ontario) put in the baking section with the yeast. LOL
- achr2 5y agoWhile certainly not a customary staple, it is commonly available here (and delicious). Marmite and PB on toast, yum.
- hanselot 5y agoBovril is vastly superior.
- executesorder66 5y agoI agree, but Bovril is not made from yeast extract like Marmite is. So not really the same kind of product.
- detritus 5y agoActually, it's over a quarter yeast extract. To be honest, having just checked, I think that's less than it was a while back, as I'm sure I recall being disappointed upon seeing the ingredients, and putting a jar back on the shelf after picking it up on a whim a while ago. I just stick to my stock pots in hot water... .
- tertius 5y agoYes, a clearly superior product.
- timbaboon 5y agoSouth African here and I have nothing polite to say about Marmite ;)
- mousetree 5y agoSouth African here and I agree.
- lelanthran 5y agoAlso South African, also agree.
- hilbert42 5y agoSee comment above.
- hilbert42 5y agoSo what's all the fuss about then? Surely someone there eats (and presumably likes) it. My departed mother and aunts loved the stuff but I'll eat it out of desperation/under sufferance when Vegemite isn't available. Where both products are available in a bousehold there's never-ending wars over which is best. That's almost inevitable. :-)
- SuoDuanDao 5y agoIt's an extremely salty, umami taste. Both flavours most people like, but too much of a good thing for the unprepared palatte. I like a thin layer of X-mite between a piece of toast and a fried egg. I find eggs need a lot of salt, so X-mite is a good combination.
- adnmcq999 5y agoI’m American and I ate a pretty good amount when I lived in the UK bc it’s high in B vitamins. I made this “sandwich” with a crumpet, polish mayo (winiary), marmite and sometimes a scotch egg and/or sauerkraut. It was disgusting, I mostly created it b/c it was cheap, but it was a staple of mine and a very British one at that (aside from the kraut). The polish mayo is an import but I’d still say very london at this point, I got it from sainsburys, but could just as well have picked it up from any number of polish stores. Anyway, marmite’s alright.
- wodenokoto 5y agoIs miso paste basically soybased marmite or are there any inherent differences?
- denton-scratch 5y agoMiso paste is made from fermented soybeans and often used to make soup; marmite is made from yeast extract, and usually spread on toast. They're both salty and brown. Otherwise they have little in common.
- cannam 5y agoI just experimented with putting a thin layer of shiro miso on my buttered toast. It didn't quite work for me. Miso flavour turns out to be very compatible with toast but my test miso didn't have enough tang to cut through properly, so the impression it left was dominated by salt. Marmite and relatives are salty as well, but they have more bite in the flavour.
- L_Rahman 5y agoYou might find that aka miso or doenjang have a flavor profile closer to what you're looking for.
- pseudotrash 5y agoTry freshly chopped celery, or carrot sticks and stick it into some fresh miso as if it were ketchup. Beautiful...
- marssaxman 5y agoI like a smear of miso paste inside a grilled cheese sandwich.
- hilbert42 5y agoFYI: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite
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- rusanu 5y agoHere is an alternative read for some of us: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220417-ajvar-the-vegan-caviar-of-the-balkans https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220417-ajvar-the-vegan-...
- cannam 5y agoFollowing up a week later just to say thank you for this link - I hadn't heard of this stuff, but have now found a source of it. It's delicious.
- twic 5y agoDid anyone else see that apparently Marmite isn't even the best marmite? Somehow ze Germans have improved on it. https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/food-and-drink/article/marmite-vs-supermarket-yeast-extract-spreads-aN0yL9M8qgZb https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/food-and-drink/article/marmi...
- phatfish 5y agoThis rang some major alarm bells. "Marmite got a decent score overall, but tasters weren’t bowled over by it, with more than half finding it too strong in flavour and too thick. Some also found it more difficult to spread compared with the own-label options." I expect the Aldi and other alternatives are watered-down fake Marmite for woke wimps who want yeast extract spreads to be more "inclusive". This country is toast.
- progre 5y agoBroad inclussion makes a country stronger, not weaker. Germany has tried the "pure" route once before, it did not end well
- overboard2 5y agoGermany's "pure" route did not end well because they attacked others for being pure. Just because a culture has oddities which do not fit with a wider culture, it doesn't mean that the former should be reduced.
- bobthechef 5y agoA sense of humor would be appropriate here. (A digression, since you made the point. This isn't a contest between Nazism and a free-for-all. A society can be overly inclusive, of bad behaviors, ideologies, and other objective threats to its common good, in which case such inclusiveness does weaken the country[0]. I think it is fair to say you'd want to exclude Nazism and other aberrations from your country's political order?) [0] https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2022/01/barron-on-diversity-equity-and-inclusion.html https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2022/01/barron-on-diversity...
- stevespang 5y ago
- microtherion 5y agoSome of us Swiss consume https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenovis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenovis but I would not consider ourselves a British outpost.
- recuter 5y agoIt is similar to English Marmite and Australian Vegemite. OK, well those two things are completely different so clearly Cenovis is inferior to both. Even mentioning the English version is lame.
- michaelscott 5y agoHaving tried both I would not consider Cenovis similar to Marmite at all. More like distant second cousins at best
- hilbert42 5y agoApologies indeed! 'Outposts' as in those who live in 'odd' parts of the world where such delicacies are consumed and appreciated. (Despite derogatory comments below you still qualify - see my Wiki quote re Vegemite to dfxm12!) :-)
- boredumb 5y agoNutritional yeast is pretty popular in the states.
- quadrangle 5y agoI love nutritional yeast! Have never tried marmite though. Is it similar at all besides being yeast-based?
- yissp 5y agoThey both have a similar savory / umami flavor, but Marmite is much, much more intense and also quite salty unlike nutritional yeast.
- Lio 5y ago...and for those in New Zealand, this is not what you guys call "Marmite". I have no idea what's up with that but it's wrong. :P Real Marmite should not be sweet. Ever. That's just ...wrong[1]. I once stayed a mate's parents in New Zealand and luckily they had a jar of the good stuff for me, sold there as "My Mate". I think down to some kind of pre-war licensing shenanigans. 1. I'll let it slip though as Kiwi lemonade is awesome.
- minton 5y agoKiwi lemonade?
- Lio 5y agoAh yeah I should clarify that, the lemonade that New Zealanders aka Kiwis have locally. I can't quite remember the brand. Might have been L&P or something.
- ravenstine 5y agoYeah, L&P (Lemon & Peoroa). Good stuff! Though I remember it being carbonated.
- Matsta 5y agoL&P is indeed carbonated. Used to be reasonably easy to get in the UK, but almost impossible since covid. You won't find non carbonated, yellow lemonade in NZ. As mentioned above, you'll just get sprite.
- ravenstine 5y agoOh yeah, that seems about right. I haven't been back there in 15 years, but when I lived there I encountered some oddities like that (as an American), and that fact sounds familiar. I was also a bit stunned when I had ketchup there, because it's different from American ketchup. Much sweeter, not much vinegar, if any. The hotdogs were also different. When I went to high school (i.e. college) there, one day they had "American hotdog day", and they were like no hotdog I had in America. They were more like those red hot link sausages (which I've never seen anyone eat in America even though I've seen them in grocery stores). So that with their own version of ketchup made for an interesting experience, and was a neat allegory for how different parts of the world see each other. Great place, that NZ. I really do miss it. Maybe I'll go back once once they finally chill out about COVID.
- wincy 5y agoHah I’m American and bought Marmite because Kenji Lopez Alt of Serious Eats fame suggested it as a great way to add Umami flavoring to a dish. I mostly add it to other dishes, such as an ingredient in pot roast, but I did try it a thin layer on toast with some butter and I like it! Very intense but interesting flavor. My kids and wife go “yuuuck!” When they see the jar, though.
- klik99 5y agoMarmite vs Vegemite is a niche holy war of emacs vs vi levels - literally noone outside cares. Being in Shanghai with a bunch of UK and Aussie expats it came up a lot. I'm Marmite/Emacs myself.
- hilbert42 5y agoExactly, and you're dead right only the protagonists care. BTW, the War's been running nearly a century,
- Tevias 5y agoI am now imagining this on dating platforms: Male/white/he,his/Marmite/Vi
- hemreldop 5y agoAlready said male, no pronouns needed
- AdamJacobMuller 5y ago> Marmite vs Vegemite is a niche holy war of emacs vs vi levels I'm deeply offended by this. I started to write up a comment in my head about how this is a completely false equivalency, Marmite and Vegemite are basically the same thing: two brands of yeast paste while Vi vs Emacs are two very distinct editors with very distinct features. I was going to indignantly point out that while a Vi user put in front of emacs would be hard-pressed to see ANY similarities a vegemite fan given marmite probably couldn't tell the difference! Then I realized: I am the problem and decided to adapt my comment for fake internet points. Vi is definitely better though.
- bostik 5y agoCan Finns, with our love of Salmiak, tag along?
- at_a_remove 5y agoI prefer Bovril, myself. So tasty.
- acadapter 5y agoThanks for the reminder - I just realized I'm out of Marmite as well.
- madeofpalk 5y agoMoving from Australia to UK, i was amused (and disgusted) by the difference between Marmite in both the countries. In Australia, Marmite has the same non-runny consistency as Vegemite, and tastes roughly the same but just more mild. Coming to the UK I was really weirded out by the runny, gloopy, tar-like consistency of Marmite. The taste is also quite different.
- mcv 5y agoI wanted to ask what the difference between Marmite and Vegemite was, but apparently the difference between Marmites of different countries is larger than the difference between Marmite and Vegemite?
- VyseofArcadia 5y agoAs an uncultured American who just likes buying from import shops: Similar flavor, but Vegemite is milder. UK Marmite has the consistency of molasses, perhaps a bit thicker. Vegemite has the consistency of (homogenized, not natural) peanut butter, and is consequently easier to spread.
- silisili 5y agoAlso uncultured American, and agreed 100%. I actually love vegemite in very small quantities, like really thin and not even fully covering toast. Marmite is a mess and the consistency/flavor I find rather offputting.
- cannam 5y agoThe pot pictured in the article has similar branding to the UK product - so South Africa is UK-aligned on this rather than Aus/NZ-aligned (or independent)? Being from the UK I'm fondest of the home version, and especially for its unhelpfully runny texture. Vegemite is pretty nice but the stuff called Marmite that I met in New Zealand, which I guess would be the same as your Australian one, is a bit weak next to either of the others.
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- Synaesthesia 5y agoSo basically during lockdown when we banned alcohol in SA there was no beer brewed, so no brewer's yeast so no marmite. But it should be coming back in stock soon. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-04-missing-marmite-the-soda-ash-edition/ https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-04-missing-m...
- taneq 5y agoWhy did they ban alcohol? In Australia during lockdowns our booze supply was considered an essential service. :S
- mousetree 5y agoThey also banned selling cigarettes
- zo1 5y agoThey banned T-shirts at some point, too. https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/397591/south-africans-baffled-by-bizarre-lockdown-clothing-rules/ https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/397591/south-africa... Pre-made warm food too, if I remember correctly. Absolute insanity. Someone sitting behind a desk tweeking nobs and hoping to stop Covid by banning benign things.
- bell-cot 5y ago> ...South Africa banned alcohol sales in an attempt to free up beds in hospitals that would otherwise be filled with tipsy drivers or drunken brawlers.
- lelanthran 5y ago> Why did they ban alcohol? In Australia during lockdowns our booze supply was considered an essential service. :S The ANC banned cigs and booze. It was later found out that their members were making money hand-over-fist in the underground markets for cigs. Maybe booze too. Honestly, this government that is repeatedly voted in by the masses keeps screwing the masses that votes them in, but they won't ever be voted out because SA voters are very tribalistic and unquestioning loyal to the ANC.
- Synaesthesia 5y agoJoke: "Anyone know what this black stuff on my toast is?" "Ma might"
- daemoncoder 5y agoBut Pa won't.
- mkl 5y ago"Pa will" was Vegemite's version of that pun with its original name "Parwill": https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/650489/vegemites-history-and-ingredients#:~:text=Parwill https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/650489/vegemites-history...
- dash2 5y agoQuick, upvote this story before the Americans wake up!
- yu-carm-kror 5y agoI would guess the entire Western hemisphere and 99.99% of the planet has zero concern for a Marmite shortage.
- bell-cot 5y agoBlessed Marmite is more than a tad difficult to obtain here in the U.S.A. It was before the da*m virus, too. I blame the problem on George III. His failure to ensure the Marmite supplies to His North American Colonies lead to discontent, unrest, panics over our children being deformed due to B vitamin deficiencies, and eventually rebellion. /s
- philipswood 5y agoI prefer Bovril myself, but to first approximation the same is true of the entire hackernews site…
- noneeeed 5y agoJust a tip for anyone thinking of trying marmite for the first time, it’s strong stuff you are supposed to spread it on thinly, not dollop it on like jam. Hot toast, a thin spread of real butter that melts into the toast, then a thin spread of marmite.
- idleproc 5y agoMy Grandad taught me how to make Marmite sandwiches. Spread butter on one slice of bread until you can no longer see the bread underneath. Spread Marmite on the other slice of bread until you can no longer see the bread underneath. Combine. Enjoy.
- skibz 5y agoAdd some slices of mature cheddar, too!
- vr46 5y agoWhen I first started going out with my non-Uk-partner, and they were looking after me during some illness or other, I asked for some Marmite on toast. They had not heard of it and curious, licked the knife afterwards, and was not impressed with the sharp taste. But about twenty minutes later, found themselves licking their lips, going, hmm - and made themselves some Marmite on buttered toast, where its flavour really shines. Total Marmite addict now.
- twic 5y agoIMHO, apply the marmite first. It's extremely viscous, so much easier to apply to unbuttered toast, and while the toast is hotter to soften it. Plus, you want the marmite underneath a layer of something else, so that it's not the first thing that makes contact with your mouth when you bite. You want the flavour to develop as you chew. Also, marmite works really well with peanut butter instead of butter.
- noneeeed 5y agoWell that’s tomorrows breakfast sorted :) I know someone who puts a touch of salt on his peanut butter, so I can definitely see marmite working with it.
- baxtr 5y agoCan someone please explain to people outside of UK/SA/AU what the heck this stuff is?
- thom 5y agoLike a salty, yeasty version of molasses. You’re supposed to either love or hate it but that’s largely marketing. Goes great by itself on toast, makes a wonderful bagel with cheese, and can add depth of flavour where some saltiness is needed in recipes.
- mrob 5y agoIt's a kind of salted yeast extract. Wikipedia's "yeast extract" article[0] isn't bad, but it's missing two important points: 1. Yeast is a living organism that multiplies during beer fermentation. Commercial brewers wash and reuse some of it, but even so they always end up with excess. 2. Breaking down the protein into amino acids dramatically increases the umami taste. So yeast extract is a way to turn a waste product into something delicious. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast_extract https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast_extract
- hinkley 5y agoThings may have changed since they merged, but New Belgium Ale ran a second fermentation to create methane from the spent grains and dregs, then composted what was left. The methane from the second pass was sufficient to run some of their boilers, and the compost was consumed by the landscapers. For anyone who doesn’t know the beer or winemaking process, I’ll put a rough overview here. It’s an interesting hobby, but one I didn’t stick with. My homes have had a lot of things but only occasionally have I had a place to make beer/wine/mead and a thermally stable place to store it (you get mouthwash if you don’t), and most of those involved narrow steep stairways I didn’t want to haul 25kg bottles up and down. I don’t think I would try again but I might help a friend if they ever wanted to. You get two or three waste streams from brewing beer, not counting any bad batches/ingredients. For beer, you sprout the grain in water to convert the starches to sugars, for everything, you then boil the sugary soup to release the sugars and minerals into the water and sterilize any wild yeast and bacteria. Sometime around when the yeast is added back in, the water is drained off and any solids are discarded. During the initial fermentation there are still suspended solids that will settle out, first due to lack of agitation, then flocculated by yeast grabbing onto some of what remains, but over time more and more of the dregs will be yeasts that have aged out or poisoned themselves with alcohol. For commercial processes, where space is at a premium, a food safe flocculant (something akin to chalk or clay IIRC) may be added to the end and or a mechanical filtering stage to get what’s left. But I think in these situations the tank may be agitated to speed up the yeast metabolism, trading time for complexity. Spent grains or fruit after the boil, then one or more passes of sediment that eventually become mostly dead yeast. Brewer’s yeast is these later stages and it contains everything a microbe needs to live except sugars and oxygen.
- flipchart 5y agohttps://archive.ph/BBklb https://archive.ph/BBklb
- ResNet 5y agoWorth a try whilst you still can, but prepare for a taste unlike anything you've had before (I mean that seriously! It's that weird.) I've eaten this stuff on toast from an early age and love it. It really is a thing people either love or hate, I don't know anyone that grew to enjoy it over time.
- sgt 5y agoSA-er here. No marmite has ever seen the inside of my house. The article is right; either you love it or you hate it.
- giovanni_m1 5y agoI’m a Namibian (neighboring SA), and this is bad news for me, I love the stuff! My kids too. (Tip if you haven’t tasted yet, try it on toast with a mild cheddar - delicious).
- jbump 5y agoAmazon is my hookup for the stuff in the US. This commercial is hilarious. Once, in my younger years, I too neglected a jar and man... that lid was stuck fast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79-sFaeLVJg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79-sFaeLVJg
- Lio 5y agoThis discussion of smuggling Marmite into Canada is, I think, proof that Bill Nighy could be the greatest living Englishman: "I also like vegemite... I don't shout about it" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqAB6yHAodQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqAB6yHAodQ
- coldpie 5y agoI don't buy from Amazon anymore, and sadly I haven't found a good source for Marmite yet. Amazon must be losing money on the international shipping, ordering from places that actually charge shipping comes out to like $30/500g jar, too much for me :(
- mcphage 5y agoRandom question, but why does this article not list the author?
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y agoThat's just how The Economist rolls. https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/04/why-are-the-economists-writers-anonymous https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/09/04/... At best they have pseudonyms https://www.economist.com/letters-to-the-editor-the-inbox/2007/04/05/our-pseudonymous-columnists https://www.economist.com/letters-to-the-editor-the-inbox/20...
- boomboomsubban 5y agoIt's the Economist's schtick. They claim it reflects the voice of the collective that worked on it. Critics say it's to make it seem more objective then opinionated, or hide inexperienced writers.
- fbanon 5y agoMarmite is a famously controversial topic. They're probably protecting the author from harrassment.
- andylynch 5y agoAs a New Zealander who experienced Marmageddon after the Christchurch earthquakes I offer our support and Marmite even if our variety differs
- jp0d 5y agoSouth Africans need to be introduced to Vegemite!
- FredPret 5y agoHint for the uninitiated: skip the bread, and spread marmite right on a slab of cheddar. It's just amazing that way.
- deepspace 5y agoOoh, yes, but a slab of Gouda also works in a pinch.
- notjustanymike 5y agoThe Dutch, in their infinite pursuit of diabetes, love to spread Stroop on their sandwiches. Stroop is a thick syrup with a very similar consistency to Marmite. A fond childhood memory of mine is watching my Dutch friend, who had never experienced Marmite make a sandwich with it thinking it was Stroop. Imagine taking a bite of a thick spread of Marmite all at once... Good times. We don't talk any more.
- sgt 5y agoThat's how I tried marmite for the first time as well. I was told by my friends that you need to put on a thick thick layer. They found it hilarious, of course.
- prometheus76 5y agoSounds like what my grandpa did to me when I was young, but with horseradish on a ham sandwich. I love it now, but at age 9, I did not.
- philjohn 5y agoAhhhh, fond memories of holidays in The Netherlands - stroop on pancakes. And stroopwaffels ...
- klyrs 5y agoThe Aussies I went camping with were not ready for Vegemite s'mores. I've had worse; the looks on their faces made it all worthwhile.
- rpastuszak 5y agoOn the other hand stroop crumpets sound quite tasty
- kemiller 5y agoOh is that where Stroopwafels come from?
- 5y ago
- neilwilson 5y agoI'd happily clear the shelves in the UK and stick the damn stuff on the first boat to SA. Bovril on toast is the food of kings. Why settle for anything less?
- lisper 5y agoLet's not forget that the marmite shortage is not SA's biggest worry just now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/04/14/flood-south-africa-deadliest/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/04/14/flood-sout...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- anonymous_sorry 5y agoI maintain that "you either love it or hate it" is the most ingeniously manipulative advertising slogan of all time. It catches you off-guard. "Why are they admitting that many people hate their product?" While you're distracted by that, the real payload is dropped into your subconscious: "I don't hate Marmite - therefore I must love it". And the meme-like quality means that the false dichotomy is socially reinforced once in a while for good measure. Marmite certainly has a distinctive taste, and many don't like it. But I doubt marmite preferences are really bimodal. When asked if I love or hate Marmite, I tend to say something like: "It's OK - Nice-ish". I have received reactions ranging from dumbfounded confusion to outright aggression. Wake up sheeple!
- chownie 5y agoThe only two scents which make me salivate are vinegar and marmite, some of us really genuinely do love it!
- nickkell 5y agoThe sound of a bell ringing is enough to get me salivating.
- javajosh 5y agoMy journey with Marmite began at a meditation retreat in NZ. The first time I tried it, it was overwhelmingly salty and the smell reminded me of those huge vitamin pills they used to sell when I was a kid (and maybe still do). I wanted to observe my reaction, so I tried it again, and again. By about day 3 I started to enjoy it. The way I describe the flavor is that it's so bad, it wraps around and becomes good again. Like an edible version of "The Room".
- MaxfordAndSons 5y agoLike how sticking your tongue to a frozen piece of metal causes a burning sensation.
- cultofmetatron 5y ago
- las_balas_tres 5y agoThank God I only like Bovril
- tertius 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_... Be careful... Help you marmite starved compatriots, you're next.
- robocat 5y agoMarmaggedon happened in 2010 in New Zealand: the local version of marmite was unavailable because the factory in Christchurch was shutdown as a consequence of the earthquake there. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/marmageddon-sends-nz-into-a-spin/ https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/marmageddon-sends-nz-into-a-sp...