An Ode to Marmite

              The Joy of Marmite

I spread my Marmite sparingly, upon my buttered toast
Of all the things to put on bread, it's what I like the most.

Its flavour always feels warm, although it isn't hot
--Caustic like a chili sauce, it certainly is not

Approved by vegetarians, and good for your nutrition
Of what my Mum called savoury, the very definition.

Though made from lowly byproducts--leftover brewing ooze
It is so reminiscent of the finest of French stews

Such grand associations were surely what was meant
When so named by clever brewers from Burton on the Trent

Precisely what exquisite yeast do Marmite makers use
To lend such gourmet qualities to brewing residues?


                       -- A.R.D. Pepper, March 1993


------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARMITE is a Registered Trade Mark of/Est une Marque Deposée de
CPC International Inc.

Made in England/Preparé en Angleterre by/par CPC(UK) Ltd. Esher, Surrey

The MARMITE Company, Burton-on-Trent

As a matter of fact I have one here in my office...

It says.

                  MARMITE
               YEAST SPREAD
           A source of Vitamin B complex

on the front, and on the side...

Ingredients: Yeast, Sugar, Salt, Wheatgerm extract,
             Mineral Salt (508), Colour (Caramel), 
             Herbs, Spices, Vitamins (Niacin, 
             Thiamin, Riboflavin).

Nutrition Information
5g of this food contains  Vitamin B1 ..... 0.30mg
                          Riboflavin ..... 0.30mg
                          Niacin     ..... 2.60mg

And the clincher

    100% VEGETARIAN

Sorry no beef extract. Perhaps vegemite does? (Tastes foul enough to be beef extract from a certain anatomical part of the cow, but thats another story).

Oh yeah. Its great for preventing hangovers. A teaspoon of this, and a glass of water (No you don't mix them together. Drink the water and suck the marmite) will stop a hangover from occuring in the morning (You do this before you sober up :)

Dehydration (metabolizing alcohol uses a lot of water) is definitely one of the contributors to hangovers, particularly if you are drinking hard stuff rather than beer. Other contributors are low blood sugar (alcohol interferes with the liver's blood glucose regulation function) and vitamin depletion. So some marmite (for the vitamins) spread on whole wheat bread (for the complex carbohydrates) and washed down with lots of water sounds like a sensible bed time snack. Even better, drink lots of water and gnash appropriately whilst imbibing. Of course in both cases, the more you are going to need it, as others pointed out, the less likely you are to think of it.

-Rich Haller University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

In reply to the above...

I have had varying degrees of success with the water-guzzling premptive hangover prevention technique, and I have come to the conclusion that the effectiveness of this method depends upon how much you sunk the night before.

It seems that I reach an alcohol saturation point beyond which any amount of water-drinking is useless - I still wake up with a grossly enlarged tongue superglued to the roof of my mouth, every mucus membrane in my body is dried and stretched to breaking point, and my brain is struggling to escape via either of my ears.

At this stage there are two strategies that might be employed:

With this research behind me, my rule of thumb now is that if after an evening of drinking if you can remember the water thing, do it. If not then .... well no worries. Also, if you do decide to eat marmite:

Marty, Waikato University.

Surely the original marmite was the blackened marrow from cooked bones. I agree though that modern stuff sold as marmite is completely vegetarian compatible.

To add another name to the debate. I discovered a Swiss? variant call Cenovit. Not perfect but a reasonable substitute (better than Vegemite anyway). Anybody else know anything about this.

[No it isn't, it's cenovisse - Michael]

Alan Brown writes on: Cultural variations in Marmite

I spread my Marmite sparingly, upon my buttered toast
Of all the things to put on bread, it's what I like the most.

Its flavour always feels warm, although it isn't hot
--Caustic like a chili sauce, it certainly is not

Not sour nor bitter, so subtle tasting generally,
But it has a pungent salty side which can my downfall be

For if through too much eagerness I heap it far too thick,
I will regret my foolishness, as I get nearly sick

Then for a month, or even more, I will not touch the stuff
Until my fading memory emboldens me enough

Such occasional indulgence provides an education;
The key to true enjoyment is always moderation.


 -- A.R.D. Pepper, March 1993