A postscript to the Marmite thread

My experience of food in America over the past 40 years (at odd intervals) does suggest that Americans do not like strong flavours. Size appears to take precedence.

So no surprise that the panel didn't much like two products with such intense tastes that one is marketed as " You love it or hate it".

The truth is that if you are Australian and have been brought up from childhood on Vegemite that is what you prefer and for Brits, well we got brought up on Marmite. I guess difficult to get into either if you try to start at 30 something.

NB: Vegemite is the slightly less aggressive of the two and its winning category supports my take on a preference for less strong flavours.

Marmite is not restricted to a spread BTW. Brits enjoy Marmite flavoured potato chips, peanuts, rippled through cheese etc. Tiny pots are sold in net bags at UK airports so that we aren't deprived on our foreign journeys. Subject to the FDA of course.

Just off to enjoy a thickly buttered slice of toast with the thinnest layer of Marmite ( that's how it is eaten which may have improved the panel's opinion had they known).

RE: Amused from a Brit.., posted on September 24, 2014 at 13:52:06

rbolaw

As an American, I would caution you not to overgeneralise as to our dislike of strong flavours. I am a lifetime fan of hot chili sauces, including the American classic Tabasco, which goes back nearly as far as your Worcestershire sauce and has been made by the same family since the 1860s. These days the American hot sauce industry has blossomed much as the microbrewery industry has.

Alas, your point has some merit, but I mainly blame the British, Irish and German influence on American food for its blandness. Flavour is mainly derived from fat -- meat, dairy and vegetable -- rather than spice.

Marmite! Almost Bar Harbor …, posted on September 25, 2014 at 13:00:44

Charlie F.
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Posts: 984
Joined: March 31, 2000

In the earlyi 1980s, while I was day-hiking in Acadia National Park (Mount Desert Isle, Maine), I happened upon a small general-store-type place that had a box of marmite containers on the counter. Having heard of it and knowing a bit about its composition, I bought some. Purely by luck, I ate it the PAR-recommended way. And loved it.

Thanks for filling me in on marmite's provenance. I'd always thought it was an Aussie variation on their own vegemite.

Happy days,

-=- Charlie F.

RE: Amused from a Brit.., posted on September 25, 2014 at 17:06:06

Amphissa
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Posts: 2717
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If you spent most of your time in the American Northeast and Midwest, you are pretty much on target. I've never encountered any food as bland as Midwestern "cooking."

But the regional cuisines of the Southwest, Gulf Coast, and deep South pop with flavor. I love those regional cuisines, as well as the contributions of worldwide cuisines to the American palate -- Asian, South American, Caribbean, Island, Indian, African, etc.

That said, I've never found an actual need or culinary impetus to include Marmite or Vegemite in meals I prepare, and I can't remember ever seeing either on the menu of any restaurant or hotel I've visited in the U.S.

"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)

RE: A postscript to the Marmite thread, posted on October 1, 2014 at 07:43:56
Ivan303 Audiophile Posts: 48887 Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM Joined: February 26, 2001	First they came for the dumb-asses And I did not speak out Because I was not a dumb-ass

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A postscript to the Marmite thread

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