Vegemite - Australia's KD

Food vices exist everywhere. In Canada we apparently have great fondness for Kraft Dinner. Policemen have donuts. Koreans have to have kimchi. San Francisco has Rice-a-Roni, you get the picture. As it's contribution to the food vice community, Australia presents Vegemite.

On one of my first trips into the supermarket in Australia I was bewildered by certain yellow-labeled jars and tubes prominently featured in the condiments aisle. The label read "Vegemite" and was made by Kraft Foods. What was this Vegemite? A salad dressing? Jam? Strangely condensed vegetables? An edible topical ointment? I know the suspense is killing you so read on.

Vegemite is an Australian staple. The label declares that it's: "Proudly made in Australia since 1923". The thick, dark brown paste is a by-product of beer brewing. Leftover yeast is mixed with some vegetable and spice additives to create Vegemite! Sound distasteful to you? The majority of North Americans would agree as it never caught on there even though it's owned by Kraft. Vegemite is derived from the British Marmite which is even thicker and saltier than its cousin (ugh). It can be purchased in jars of varying sizes or toothpaste-like tubes. I'm just wondering what brewery-working bloke looked at leftover yeast and thought: "Eureka! This would be perfect on bread!" Seriously, it's the not the first thing that would come to mind as a tasty snack.

A good many Australians swear by it. I've seen it scraped onto bread at many a recess and lunch and many bakeries sell "Cheesymite" rolls. My brother had his first taste of it while on an extended overseas trip and it's safe to say that Vegemite will never grace his tongue again.

I had my first taste of Vegemite in a friend's house after they'd learned I'd never tried it. A jar was promptly whisked out and I was given a knife and piece of bread. "Don't put too much on!" I was warned and with good foresight. I tentatively placed a light covering of Vegemite onto the bread and even more gingerly took a bite. What was it like? Honestly, it tasted...brown (I'm serious if brown had a flavour this would be it!) and salty, really salty. Did I like it? No, but I didn't hate it either. I also haven't had any since that initial sampling, despite being given a jar at Christmas. I'll leave it that we're strangers who met once at a party and never spoke again, much to Vegemite's dismay. I'm sure it would've loved to make another conquest.

I'll end my Vegemite-themed post there. If any of my friends out there wants to try it, let me know and I'll mail you a tube! Mmmm.