Vegemite

Where do I start? Vegemite is part of my life in a way that is inexplicable. It’s always been there. For a very long time, Vegemite toast was a staple of my diet, breakfast usually, though as an after school snack it was always a good option. Vegemite works really well on most commodity bread, and is excellent on sourdough. I love it on bagels. The one thing I found that didn’t work, was putting in on cheap store-bought white bread in the US. The bread is too sweet, though my tastes have changed in the last few years. For some time in my teenage years, my father refused to buy Vegemite, opting instead for its competitor Promite, which I disliked, for its sweetness.

Here are a few photos to prove my authenticity as an Australian. On the left is Mt Majura, close to where I live, shrouded in bushfire smoke, as it was for 6-8 weeks. On the right, some of my mates, out looking for a drink, on Mt Ainslie, which is next to Mt Majura.

So, on to the game. I have a school age son, and I actually made his lunch for him one day last week (he’s 11, he can make his own bloody lunch). Full disclaimer: his dad is American, but child has lived his entire life in Australia, so he is, essentially “made in Australia; some imported ingredients”. He likes Vegemite, and he’s a lazy bugger, so when I said I’d make his sandwich, he was thrilled.

Bread: check

Vegemite: check The jar on the left is almost empty, and has a special enamelled on label. The jar on the right commemorates our tennis legend Ash Barty. We do stuff like that here. Mr11 is a tennis player, so thought that Bartymite was a good thing to have in the house.

Jim has previously demonstrated how to put Vegemite on bread, but here it is again. This thickness is right at Mr11’s upper limit for Vegemite, but I think it’s about right. And of course you have to cut it in triangles, but big ones, because he’s big now. He seemed to enjoy it, well, it didn’t come home again.

I should also point out that there are variations on standard Vegemite, some/most of which seem to be marketing scams (if it ain’t broke…) The most interesting and recent one of these would have to be Blend17. There are a bunch of reviews, most of which suggest it’s a scam, and I tend to agree, though I did decide to do my own head-to-head tasting. The ingredients and composition are identical. I tasted both neat, and decided that the Blend17 had less of that burnt rubber thing going on that Jim mentioned, but it may just be that I was eating 3 year old Vegemite. On the other hand, it’s so stable that they don’t bother with a best-before date on the jar. Really, it was just an excuse to eat two pieces of Vegemite toast in the name of science.

Of course the furry bastard wanted a piece of the action. Cats love Vegmite. He doesn’t have a clear preference either, but I didn’t let him have any.

The text in the pic on the right says “Introducing Blend17. This 2017 SPECIAL EDITION has been crafted for a richer VEGEMITE experience with a bolder finish.” I don’t believe it, but the jar is cute.

Here are a few more commemorative jar pics (the other side, and the lid of the jar in the top pics) The text says: Tastes like “hot summers and old corrugated iron fences” Artist David Bromley.

Text here says: Tastes like “Families, Island Home, Kaiadilt Language, Colour, and Remarkable HIstory” Artist Claudia Moodoonuthi.

Vegemite jars are incredibly useful for keeping other stuff in, their size and shape makes them unique. I use them for jam, or sauerkraut, or keeping stuff in the shed. A friend of mine used to have a pet redback spider that she brought to school in a Vegemite jar sometimes.

Crit

I’m a mother of two boys. I work selling organic produce to gullible locals, and in my spare time I run as far as I can. Oh, and I live in Australia, married to a US citizen.