Vegemite, Marmite, and Promite

If you're Australian, you may feel loyalty to Vegemite over all other yeast spreads (even though it's owned by Kraft, an American company).

If you're not Australian, it may be a complete mystery to you.

I find both of these statements completely understandable.

I like Vegemite (very much) but it is an odd looking substance. I do also wonder how the idea of creating a 'concentrated yeast extract' first came about. As we saw in this post, Vegemite was first created in Australia in 1922. The English Marmite has been around since 1902 and Cenovis, a Swiss version, since 1933. That's quite a long history for a collection of vegetable spreads that, generally speaking, one either loves or hates.

I grew up with Vegemite and Promite, the latter being a somewhat milder version of Vegemite that is also Australian (but owned by Mars...). In my I-only-want-this-on-my-sandwich-every-day-for-3-months primary school days, Vegemite was a frequent favourite. I liked Promite for variety though, and also enjoyed English Marmite on our English holidays.

A month or so ago, I realised that I couldn't fully recall the flavours of Promite or Marmite. As I don't eat a lot of plain bread / toast / plain crackers, so well suited to being spread with spreads, I tend to have Vegemite only a few times a month. This means that there's not a lot of room for routinely rotating through alternatives, and it's been years since I tried the other options.

I thus decided to do a taste test. First, though, I had to work through the confusing differences between English and Australian Marmite.

I wanted the English Marmite, obviously, in order to bring back my faded English memories. The only problem is that in Australia, English Marmite is called Our Mate.

This is because Sanitarium bought the rights to the Australian and New Zealand distribution of Marmite in 1908, and they have modified the product somewhat over time. The original (English) Marmite now differs to the Sanitarium Marmite, but the original version can't be called Marmite in Australia because the Sanitarium product holds the name.

I know. It's all very confusing.

After we tracked down the English Marmite in the foreign food section of Coles, I roped Mr Bite into being my blind taste tester and we journeyed into the land of black salty spreads.

He did his taste testing off crackers, whereas I used a spoon. Frankly, I wouldn't really recommend the spoon approach, but I did at least get an untainted taste experience. 

I also drank a lot of water between tastes.

Promite

Promite has a considerably longer ingredient list than Vegemite, as well as more sugar (18.5 g / 100 g vs. 2.2 g / 100 g), and this is evident in both the taste and the smell. It's sweeter and mellower - like a mild version of Vegemite.

Mr Bite hadn't tasted Promite before, but as he'd had both Vegemite and (English) Marmite he was able to accurately identify it. His description was "fruity, with more flavours than Vegemite". He didn't exactly dislike it, but he did indicate he would be unlikely to have it again.

I agreed with his description - there is definitely a depth of flavour that the other spreads don't have - and found it considerably less intense than either Vegemite or (English) Marmite. I imagine it would be a good starter for people who haven't tried yeast spreads.

(English) Marmite

You'll notice that I am persisting in calling this Marmite, even if the jar says something else. Our Mate just makes me giggle.

The ingredient lists starts off looking like Vegemite, but after the initial yeast extract and salt, it branches out to list 'vegetable extract' and 'spice extract', in contrast to Vegemite's 'malt extract' and 'flavours'. 

In truth, they are quite similar. Mr Bite described Marmite as stronger, and I would fully agree - but that's the only real difference either of us could put into words. The flavours also vary slightly, but the main contrast is intensity. 

Oddly, despite the stronger flavour, the appearance of this is almost runny. It isn't (the spread below is actually quite thick) but it certainly has a lighter look to it.

Marmite is probably not for the faint hearted. It's also most definitely better off a cracker than off a spoon.

Vegemite

Vegemite. Breakfast of champions, source of Vitamin B, and linked in my mind with old-fashioned children with rosy cheeks singing in ads.

When trying to describe the flavour of Vegemite, though, I realised that I actually can't. It's easy to compare it to other things (stronger than Promite, less intense than Marmite) but not to put its taste into words.

Salty, strong, intense, yeasty...the combination of those things is unimaginable until you take a bite. I could compare it to nutritional yeast, for someone who has tried that and not Vegemite, but Vegemite has a certain something that makes it stand out.

Mr Bite and I concurred that it was similar to Marmite, but better, and that Promite is in a different category altogether. Not a bad category, just a different one.

Mr Bite concluded his testing by announcing that he will be sticking with Vegemite, thus leaving me with two jars of yeast spread to slowly work my way through. Just not with a spoon.

Do you like Vegemite? Any favourite uses? How about other yeast extract spreads?

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