I Cannot, I Cannot

"Love it or hate it?"

That is a recent marketing campaign for the greasy-looking, brown goo that is Marmite. This weird food has intrigued me from whenst I first layed eyes on it.
When we made our first trip over to the UK to find our new home, the B&B we stayed at had a great English breakfast. One of the condiments on the tray was Marmite. I put a bit on my toast and took a bite. My whole face puckered up - it is horribly salty and powerfully savoury like someone reduced a bottle of soy sauce down to just one drop -- and I immediately decided it was nasty, Nasty, NASTY! But then, a strange thing happened: A mere fortnight later, I found myself craving it. Such is the character of Marmite.

Marmite is made from a by-product of beer brewing. The used brewer's yeast is processed, concentrated, and seasoned in some top secret fashion to produce the final product. The high levels of B vitamins in Marmite boosted the product's popularity when it was found it could prevent a vitamin deficiency known as beri-beri that was common during World War I. Marmite was included in soldier's ration packs in WWI and was a dietary supplement in prisoner of war camps in WWII. It has also gained popularity because it has always been 100% vegetarian.

What do you do with it? Apparently, its quite common to make sandwiches with a thin layer of Marmite and soft butter and bread. Or cheese and butter and Marmite and bread. Or, another classic is Marmite and peanut butter and bread. I've tried the Marmite & Butter sandwich and I have to admit, the rich butter helps tone down the Marmite and was much more readily eaten. I will likely try to do Marmite & Cheese today. Even Starbucks UK has had a cheese and Marmite panini on their menu. For more Marmite ideas, check out the search results at RecipeZaar.

But it doesn't stop there. Just like we see bags of chips that are Tabasco flavor or KC Masterpiece flavor, the same goes for Marmite. I have tried Marmite potato crisps, Marmite crackers, and I've seen a handful of other Marmite-infused products. The Marmite crisps were excellent -- I need more of them.

I look forward to finding out which side of the Love/Hate line our visitors fall on. Cheers!

Update: Even before I could get this post out, I had a Marmite moment. I just made a toasted crumpet with cheese (cumin Gouda from Amsterdam), a layer of Marmite, and half a soft-boiled duck egg on top. Tasty! I think I'm hooked.