Vegemite Anyone?

Contrary to other things I have written about lately, vegemite is something I knew about and associated with Australia in my previous life.  My thoughtful husband had vegemite waiting for us in our pantry when we arrived, but until today it had remained untouched.  A couple of the children had a bad experience when we first arrived.  At a morning coffee they picked up a slice of bread spread with the sticky brown stuff, assuming it was chocolate.  Now they will not go anywhere near it. 

I checked the ingredients today and noticed for the first time that along with the yeast extract and salt, vegemit contains malt extract.  Extract of malt are the sandwiches that Tigger eats in The House at Pooh Corner, one of my all time favorite children's books.  After reading it aloud to Katie when she was five, I vowed to reread it each summer with my children.  I have failed miserably in this goal, so when I saw an audio version at our library this week I snatched it up.

Convincing my older children that it would be worth listening to took some doing. I explained that the book contained humor on a level not appreciated by younger children, and that was enough for my ten-year-old son to consent to having it played in the car.  Numerous fits of giggles later, he is looking for reasons to ride in the car with me.  He and I have been laughing over it so much that the younger two are feeling a bit left out.  We all agree that this particular audio version is superbly done.

But back to vegemite, my initial reason for this post.  This afternoon James found it in the pantry, and begged me to open the container with many promises that he would try it.  One whiff, and he was off like a shot.    Ross has already declared that he won't be eating it anytime soon, so that left me to figure out what we are going to do with the remainder other than toss it in the rubbish bin. 

Fortunately I had been given some advice on how it is best consumed:  Toast a slice of bread, spread it liberally with butter, add just a smear of vegemite, and top it off with a slice of cheese.  This I tried, and while I was able to wash it down with a cuppa, I felt I could improve things a little by adding honey to counteract the saltiness and bitter aftertaste. I suspect this would  be shocking to the average Aussie, as sweet and savory don't tend to be mixed here.  However the addition of honey means that I just may be able to finish our jar of vegemite before we return to the U.S.

Comments

[Kent Keller]

I don't think you have to worry about it "going off" during your time here. I think Vegemite's shelf life is only surpassed by the good ol' American Twinkie. :-)

[janetjames]

Our Aussie friends on the trip kept looking for Vegemite - couldn't find it anywhere. They were almost devastated ! They don't like our peanut butter.
Congrats for at least trying it !

[Suzanne Pannelle]

You sure are brave! If I had the same opinion as your family with just one whif, it surely would have been in the trash! I would tend to be more like Aunt Janet's Aussie friend - searching for the familiar in the foriegn land. I admire your adventurous palate!