What Is This Bloody Awful Goo?

Marmite---The Key, Perhaps, To All Things British.



Next to the packs of butter, butter-like yellow grease, and marmalade on the tables at Merton are packs of "Marmite." When you open a pack, you are treated to the peculiar sulphery-acrid smell. The flavor (or, should I say, "flavour") is very salty and very funky, a bit like a more chemical-tasting version of Japanese Mizu paste. No wonder the pack warns one to "SPREAD VERY THINLY."

We wondered about the origin and purpose of this bizzare condiment and here's what we found:

"Marmite is dark brown-colored savory spread made from the yeast that is a by-product of the brewing industry. It has a very strong, slightly salty flavor. It is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it type of food.It comes in small (2-5 inches high) bulb-shaped glass jars with a distinctive yellow lid.Children in Britain are generally fed it from the time they are weaned, and most never grow out of it. It has a high B-vitamin content, as well as riboflavin and niacin—and as such is very healthy. (The vitamin-B complex helps prevent anemia.)"


You can go to Marmite's corporate website and choose "Love it" or "Hate it" here. Or you can visit a Marmite fansite, that's right, I said "Marmite fansite" (isn't the internet wonderful?) here.