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Marmite: A polarizing British concoction

By ERIC STANWAY - Special to The Sunday Telegraph | Sep 19, 2020

There are some foods that are so polarizing that people unfamiliar with them react with instant disgust. For instance, most Asian people eschew cheese, as they consider it to be just rotten milk. For my part, I can’t abide pancakes, biscuits and gravy or Twinkies. I expect to get a lot of hate mail over that one.

For Americans, there’s the evil trio of Marmite, Vegemite and Bovril. All three of these come in small jars, a thick, salty concoction that Brits and Australians just love to smear on toast and butter. For my part, my favorite is Marmite. My significant other just refers to it as “thick soy sauce,” and won’t touch the stuff. Good. More for me. I like to slather it on toast or bagels, and wash it down with a nice cup of strong tea.

Marmite is a byproduct of Britain’s brewing industry, namely leftover yeast. This refuse, which was regularly chucked out by the breweries, came to the attention of a German scientist, Justus Leibig, who discovered that this substance could be bottled and marketed as a food. There were a lot of brewers in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, providing plenty of raw material, so that’s where Leibig decided to set up his operations. He founded the Marmite Food Company in 1902, and marketed his new invention, which he combined with salt, spices and celery. He named the company after a French casserole dish, called the marmite. In the Normandy port of Dieppe, it is used to make a popular fish stew known as Marmite Dieppoise. As a tribute to this inspiration, he put a picture of the casserole on every jar of Marmite.

The new spread was an immediate success, as the British public snatched it up. It was also popular in New Zealand, where the Sanitarium and Wellbeing Company bought the rights in 1908, and sold it in that country. They also added sugar to the mix, which significantly altered the taste.

When World War I broke out, Marmite was included in the rations for the boys headed for the front, along with Spam, bully beef and condensed milk. It remained popular all the way through the next World War.

Eventually, the popularity of the spread exceeded the capabilities of the Staffordshire plant, and they opened a second in Vauxhall, South London. Unfortunately, the stench from the factory was significantly driving down property values, and they were obliged to shut down in 1967.

Oddly, a certain urban myth began to develop over the years, claiming that Marmite was banned in British prisons in 2002, because it was being used as an ingredient in moonshine. In 2009, it was reported that inmates in Dartmoor Prison had been concocting a nasty brew known as “Marmite Mule.” When confronted with these allegations, the prison authorities denied the whole story.

Still skeptical? Well, chew this over. Marmite contains huge quantities of folic acid, thiamin and riboflavin — just the stuff for those of us who are getting a little long in the tooth. There is another advantage, as well. Apparently, it discourages mosquitoes.

A few years ago, Unilever, a massive international food conglomerate that now owns the company, recognized the importance of the brand, and built a sculpture of a huge Marmite bottle, at a cost of 15,000 pounds.

Ultimately, the question comes down to this. Will you love it or will you hate it? For the uninitiated, it’s a tough call. I grew up on the stuff, so I’m definitely in the former camp. Unfortunately, since it’s so hard to find, I have to get it through specialty shops, where they charge you an arm and a leg.

For those interested, I have attached a recipe from Marmite’s website, Marmite.co.uk. The more adventurous among you might try to make it. I’m going to continue to smear it on toast.

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