Marmite

Marmite and Vegemite compared

Marmite is a savoury spread made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer brewing. While the British recipe has a sticky consistency the Australasian (New Zealand and Australia) recipe does not. While the two recipes share the same name and general dark brown colour they do not (unfortunately) share the same taste. The Australasian flavour is much stronger and is not sweet whereas the British recipe is. Regardless both recipes have a tendency to polarises consumer opinion and prompts its advertising slogan that you either "love it or hate it". It is similar to the Australasian Vegemite and Switzerland's Cenovis, and is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

As the image on the front of every jar shows, a marmite is actually a "large covered earthenware or metal cooking pot," a word from French. [1] Marmite was originally supplied in earthenware pots, but has long been sold in glass jars that approximate the shape of such pots.[2] A thinner version in squeezable plastic jars was introduced in March 2006.

Introduction

The Marmite Food Extract Company was formed in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England, in 1902, with Marmite as its main product. By 1907, the product had become successful enough to warrant construction of a second factory at Camberwell Green in London.[3] Today, the main ingredients of Marmite manufactured in the UK are yeast extract, with lesser quantities of sodium chloride (common salt), wheatgerm extract, niacin, thiamine, spice extracts, riboflavin, and folic acid, although the precise composition is kept as a trade secret. By 1912, the discovery of vitamins was a boost for Marmite, as the spread is a rich source of the vitamin B complex; vitamin B₁₂ is not naturally found in yeast extract, but is added to Marmite during manufacture.

In 1990, Marmite Limited—which had become a subsidiary of Bovril Limited—was bought by CPC (United Kingdom) Limited, which changed its name to Best Foods Inc in 1998. Best Foods Inc subsequently merged with Unilever in 2000, and Marmite is now a trademark owned by Unilever.

Marmite's publicity campaigns initially emphasised the spread's healthy nature, extolling it as "The growing up spread you never grow out of". During the 1980s, the spread was advertised with the slogan "My mate, Marmite", delivered in television commercials by an army platoon (the spread had been a standard vitamin supplement for British-based German POWs during the Second World War). By the 1990s, another strand entered the company's marketing efforts; Marmite's distinctive and powerful taste had earned it as many detractors as it had fans, and it was commonly notorious for producing a binary and exclusive "love/hate" reaction amongst consumers. Modern advertisements play on this, and Marmite runs two websites, I Love Marmite and I Hate Marmite, where people may share their experiences of Marmite.

A 2004 UK TV advert, which parodied the 1958 Steve McQueen film The Blob, substituting Marmite for the original alien space menace and including frightening scenes of fleeing people, was dropped after being screened on children's television: a few concerned parents reported that their children were scared by the ads and had nightmares after viewing them. [4]

Marmite is not generally available worldwide, and is frequently cited as the most-missed foodstuff by British expatriates. Paul Ridout, a British backpacker kidnapped by Kashmiri separatists in 1994, was quoted as saying "It was pretty good. It's just one of those things—you get out of the country and it's all you can think about." [5]

Bill Bryson, in Notes from a Small Island writes: "There are certain things that you have to be British, or at least older than me, or possibly both, to appreciate: skiffle music, salt-cellars with a single hole, [and] Marmite (an edible yeast extract with the visual properties of an industrial lubricant)..." [6]

In 2006, a new "squeeze" jar of Marmite was released. It was released to make the Marmite easier to get out. The "squeezy" jar is made of plastic, and when first launched the "Marmite" logo was replaced by the words "squeeze me".

Serving suggestions

Marmite is traditionally eaten as a savoury spread on bread, toast, and savoury biscuits. Due to its concentrated taste it should be spread thinly with butter or margarine. Its powerful taste limits its applications otherwise; nonetheless, in 2003, the Absolute Press published Paul Hartley's "The Marmite Cookbook", containing recipes and suggestions on how to blend Marmite with other foodstuffs.[7] Some people have been known to eat Marmite by itself, liking the strong taste of the spread.

Marmite also works well with cheese (such as in a cheese sandwich) and has been used as an additional flavouring in Mini Cheddars, a savoury cheese-flavoured biscuit snack. Marmite has also been used by Walkers Crisps for a special-edition flavour and has introduced, with local Dorset bakery Fudges, Marmite Biscuits in the UK.

Product Range

Marmite 125g
Marmite 250g
Marmite 500g
Marmite Love portions (6x8g)
Marmite Squeeze 200g

Recipe Ideas

In New Zealand, it is sometimes spread thinly on bread with packet potato chips added to make a "Marmite And Chip Sandwich", or spread thickly on bread prior to toasting, cooked, then eaten slathered with butter.

Marmite and peanut-butter on toast is another popular combination.

In Sri Lanka it is dissolved in boiling water and some lime juice and a fried, sliced onion is added, allegedly an excellent pick-me-up drink for recovering from a hangover.

Nigella Lawson's recipe for Marmite sandwiches:

Whisk soft unsalted butter with some Marmite and then spread the peanut-butter coloured mix on to sliced white bread. 100g butter is enough to sandwich the slices of one loaf, the quantity of Marmite depends on whether you want a mild-tasting, buff-coloured cream or a salty-strong, sunbed-tan glaze.

Availability worldwide

Marmite as sold in Australia and New Zealand

Marmite is widespread and available in most food stores in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa, all parts of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Countries where Marmite has some limited availability, such as some supermarkets and health food stores:

the United States

Elsewhere, Marmite is still quite unknown, and not marketed by Unilever. It is available over the Internet, where the small size and weight of its containers, its long shelf life, and its robustness make it practical for mail-order.

The Marmite available in Australia is actually manufactured in New Zealand, although this isn't widely publicised. This Marmite is significantly different in taste from UK Marmite—the ingredients include sugar—and comes in different packaging; it is manufactured by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, which started importing it from Britain in 1910, gained the exclusive agency to sell in New Zealand in 1919, and in the 1930s started experimenting with blends that led to today's independent product.

UK Marmite is available in Australia in the 125g size from several small imported food stores. There is also an imported version called "Our Mate" which is produced by Unilever in the UK. These are also sold in the 125g size, and look identical to UK Marmite except for the name. The taste is also identical to UK Marmite. The label states "Made in the UK by Unilever Bestfoods".

Manufacture

Whilst the actual process is secret, the general method for making yeast extract on a commercial scale is to add salt to a suspension of yeast making the solution hypertonic, which leads to the cells shrivelling up; this triggers 'autolysis', in which the yeast self-destructs. The dying yeast cells are then heated to complete their breakdown, after which the husks (yeast have thick cell walls which would detract from the smooth texture of the final product) are separated out.

New Zealand Marmite is available in the UK through KiwiFruits NZ store in London. It's sold under the brandname Vitamite.

Nutritional information

Marmite has useful quantities of vitamins, even in small servings. Sodium (salt) content of the spread is high and has caused concern, but the amount per serving, not the percentage in bulk Marmite, is the significant factor.

Per 100 g of UK Marmite

Energy – 929 kJ/219 kcal
Protein – 38.4 g
Carbohydrates – 19.2 g
of which sugars – 0.5 g
Fat – 0.1 g
of which saturates – trace
Fibre – 3.1 g
Sodium – 4.3 g
Thiamin – 5.8 mg – 414 % RDA
Riboflavin – 7.0 mg – 438 % RDA
Niacin – 160.0 mg – 889 % RDA
Folic Acid – 2500 µg – 1250 % RDA
Vitamin B₁₂ – 15.0 µg – 1500 % RDA

Per 4 g serving of UK Marmite

Energy – 37 kJ/9 kcal
Protein – 1.5 g
Carbohydrates – 0.8 g
of which sugars – trace
Fat – trace
of which saturates – trace
Fibre – 0.1 g
Sodium – 0.2 g
Thiamin – 0.23 mg – 16.6 % RDA
Riboflavin – 0.28 mg – 17.5 % RDA
Niacin – 6.4 mg – 35.6 % RDA
Folic Acid – 100 µg – 50.0 % RDA
Vitamin B₁₂ – 0.6 µg – 20 % RDA (based on recent change in RDA for B₁₂ from 1.0 µg to 3.0µg)

RDA = Recommended Daily Allowance.

Suggested serving 4 g for adults, 2 g for children.

Trivia

In a New Year's Eve episode of Mr. Bean, the titular character serves Marmite-flavoured pretzel-like "snacks" (Twiglets) to his friends. These "snacks", however, were actually twigs taken from a tree outside Bean's window and dipped in Marmite .
In 2006, a Vancouver, Canada radio station mentions Marmite in advertisements for their "What's in The Van, Man?" British Invasion contest.
In August 2006 as part of the launch of squeezy marmite celebrity chef Gary Rhodes created a dessert consisting of Coffee Ice Cream topped with Chocolate Sauce with a dash of marmite. It was served for one week only in his London restaurant, since this it has been reported that a handful of ice cream bars in some parts of the UK are now offering this topping. (One that does is in the shadow of the marmite factory in Burton-On-Trent)
If you put a dollop of Marmite on a plate then hit it with a spoon, it will steadily grow paler in colour[8]. Reports suggest that it's possible to turn it white with enough hitting, but these are unconfirmed.
Some suggest that the consumption of Marmite can ward off mosquitos[9], the reasoning being that the skin gives off a scent, unnoticeable to humans, but which mosquitos find unappealing, or that the vitamin B content wards off the flying pests. British travellers to tropical locations sometimes take Marmite with them to eat during the trip, although it has been shown that the B vitamin complex does not repel mosquitoes[10].
- The root of this belief might have been its use during the 1934-5 Malaria Epidemic in Sri Lanka:

The two things given to each patient were a bottle of the standard quinine mixture and Marmite rolled into the form of vederala’s pills. The latter was said to have been the idea of the late Dr. Mary Ratnam and to have been more effective than the quinine itself, such was the degree of starvation among the peasantry. The Suriya Mal workers were amazed to see how this little Marmite revived them and put some life back into them.
— George Jan Lerski, [11]