Marmite has an interesting history that coincides with the history of biology. Marmite uses up the byproduct of beer production as it can be made from spent brewer’s yeast. For years, yeast was only thought of as a catalyst for the fermentation of sugar to make beer, and a nuisance of a byproduct, until a series of discoveries in the field of biology led to its use for Marmite.:
1680 – Dutch scientist Leouwenhoek notices that yeast is composed of tiny spherical cells and ovoids
1858 – Louis Pasteur points out that yeast is actually an organism kept alive through fermentation. He describes the process of fermentation, and how it turns sugar into alcohol without oxygen.
Late 1800’s – German chemist Justin von Liebeg, inspired by Pasteur, begins using yeast extract from beer companies to make his infamous “Extract of Meat” for vegetarian purposes.
Liebeg’s concoction was apparently not very appealing and he eventually stopped producing it as a meat substitute and made it as cubes of feed for cows. Instead, a group of chemists came together and made the Marmite Food Company Limited in 1902. It was originally advertised, and still is, as a vegetarian alternative to meat: it supposedly can replicate the salty gamey taste of meat in broth, though I wouldn’t say it struck me as coming very close. Marmite became even more popular in 1912 with the discovery of vitamins: the presence of five B vitamins in Marmite made it suddenly a popular feed for children and soldiers during WWII.
The modern version, now owned after many buyouts by Unilever Co., uses the same style of pot (as shown in the picture) but in smaller quantities. The picture is of a French stock pot – which is what marmite translates into in French.
I think I’ve always shook a little at the idea of Marmite simply because it’s a British staple food. I can’t really think of a staple British food I like: gravy, roasts, meat pies. This is under-handing a whole culture of food, I know, but there’s a certain rich, creamy, meaty, and filling quality to traditional British food that’s always turned me off. Descriptions of the substance also lack appeal. People have trouble describing Marmite: a salty spread made from yeast from beer production that foreigners usually hate.
I would NOT recommend trying this on its own or without some butter on the toast as it is incredibly salty. I tried Marmite on toast with more and more butter as I went along. Tried as I might to enjoy the uniqueness of its flavor, there are some battles that cannot be won. I do not know how people eat this stuff, let alone as children or early in the morning. It is like gulping soy sauce, an impression several other friends who tried this agreed upon: one even said, “I imagine this is what overly salted dog food might taste like…” The saltiness of the substance combines with a rancid heavy aftertaste, like very pungent chicken broth. Furthermore, it looked awful, like diesel fuel or something jet-black and chemical. Neither bread nor butter tempered the strength of its salty flavor and I could not find many redeeming qualities to this spread despites its cultural and historical importance. My little bottle was quickly passed off to someone who planned on shocking her boyfriend with its flavor.
Sources:
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/marmite.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/jan/04/advertising.foodanddrink
http://www.ilovemarmite.com/marmite-history.asp
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Liebig_Extract_of_Meat_Company
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