KEY POINTS:
In my babyhood in the 1950s I was privileged to listen to a wee song that went like this:
We're happy little Vegemites, as bright as bright can be.
We all enjoy our Vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea.
Our mummies say we're growing
stronger every single week.
Because we love our Vegemite,
we all adore our Vegemite,
it puts a rose in every cheek.
Okay, so it's a little repetitive, but when you're 5 you don't notice because you're too busy smearing the delicious stuff all over yourself.
Vegemite is a spread made from yeast extract and is one of the clearest markers of cultural identity of any food in the world. If you say you love Vegemite, people don't say, "Oh you must be from Bolivia."
No. They say, "Ew yuk, you must be a Kiwi or an Aussie." It is thick, black and tastes salty, caramel-like and sharp, and many New Zealanders are addicted to having it on their toast, cut into soldiers, in the morning. It's very good on sandwiches slathered with butter and a small dollop of it has improved many an insipid gravy or stew.
Vegemite was invented more than 80 years ago in Australia and contains yeast extract, malt extract, caramel, vegetable flavours and vitamins. Any human who's not a New Zealander or an Australian loathes it.
We're born with only one taste preference and that's for sweetness, so we've had to learn to like strong-tasting Vegemite just like we've had to learn to like other harsh tastes such as coffee, alcohol and pepper.
Vegemite is absolutely packed with vitamin B complex - a single serving of 5g on a slice of bread provides a large percentage of your daily vitamin B requirements.
Vitamin B is very good for healthy hair and nails, is an antioxidant, good for digestion, develops muscles, and aids the nervous system. Vegemite has only 40kj in a teaspoonful and less than 1g of fat in 100g. You'd be mad not to eat it.
Then there is Marmite, which was invented by the English. The word comes from the French "marmite", meaning stockpot. It is sweeter than Vegemite (which is a copy of Marmite) but is basically the same thing and contains yeast, wheatgerm, caramel, sugar, herbs, spices and vitamins. Most people think it has meat extract in it but it doesn't. In New Zealand we eat about equal amounts of Marmite and Vegemite.
Some other ideas for cooking with Vegemite are: stick some in your chili con carne; spread it thinly on toast with sliced avocados and dukka; spread it on sheets of flaky pastry, sprinkle with grated aged cheddar, roll up, bake and slice.
In the recipe for meat and Vegemite pasties, it's best to make the pastry yourself rather than buy it, because it is very light in butter and it will be deep-fried.