Well tonight I tried Marmite for the first time. I made a detailed photographic journey of my experience. Marmite definately tastes better on buttered toast than on plain toast. I think I spread the Marmite on too thickly with the regular toast and later learned my lesson. The smell is hard to describe, it’s a truley orginal smell. Maybe burning yeast in a tar pit? It’s taste relatively the same at first, almost a bitter taste that turns into an interesting flavor that is hard to describe. When mixed with the butter the Marmite became edible, and was quite enjoyable. Here’s a link to the detailed Marmite journey.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291439737
And one for Greg Harper… Marmite in a bikini!
I can already hear Greg’s footsteps runnin to the cold shower again…
i just have to say that technically, that’s only half of a bikini. [or at least half of a bikini swimsuit, anyway…]
so therefore, i here submit as a possible origin of “marmite.5” the following:
as “marmite only large enough to wear .5 of a bikini”, this name is obviously too cumbersome, and has been shortened to simply
marmite.5,
John M
RE: [Off Topic] Pictures of my Marmite journey!
> i just have to say that technically, that’s only half of a
> bikini.
So you have a topless jar of Marmite on your hands.
> as “marmite only large enough to wear .5 of a bikini”,
> this name is obviously too cumbersome, and has been
> shortened to simply marmite.5,
Oh my.
That was pretty funny stuff. Imagine the energy! The imagination! The
excessive free time! all this energy could be put to use to benefit mankind.
It could be an incredibly powerful force…
But how to apply it?
JF
my review
Having gone over to the (air)Bourne household last evening [after impersonating Greg Harper to gain access to a second level economics class at the local community college, to pass the time], Adam and I decided to partake in some marmite.
He toasted two slices of bread, I fetched the butter, spread one slice moderately therewith, and he produced the small round jar.
The marmite itself is, as previously described, of an odd smell and appearance both. Looking at the ingredients, I was surprised to see extracts of both carrot and onion as second and third ingredients to the yeast extract’s first most plentiful, but thought “what the hey… it’s a cultural learning experience” and dipped in the knife.
Adam kindly warned me, as I was about to spread, that the amount I had on the knife was “way way too much”, so I unloaded it a bit, and spread away. My first bite was of the buttered toast, so the primary tastes on my palette were toast and butter, then the taste that corresponded to that odd scent from the jar accompanied. I then tried the unbuttered, for a Purer Marmite Experience, and it delivered as promised.
Overall, I’d tend to agree with Adam’s ratings of approximately 2 and 8 for unbuttered and buttered, but with the qualification that the buttered rating depends largely on how much you .do. like buttered toast.
marmite experience,
John M.5
hey,
what exactly is “marmite”?
thank you
and why is everyone here so obsesed about it?
Hey ekimstorm,
Rather than bog down the newsgroup with old Marmite hash, I’ll shoot you a personal email and give you the ins and outs of what’s up with Marmite.
Bruce
Hey, ekimstorm,
Just who are you calling “obsessed” ?
Bizarre and dangerous fascination: maybe; but an obsession? Not for long. Auto-deprogramming has already been triggered by the gag reflex.
Since you’re a registered user, why not browse back through the other posts and threads on this topic, rather than bog down the newsgroup with silly questions about British Unicyclists’ secret weapon of tastebud and syntax mass-destruction…
Huh?
Aw, Rick, give the guy a break. He (or she) only registered in July and is on post #7. It took me a while to learn what’s all available on the newsgroup.
On second thought, it’s difficult to understand why Marmite is not a household word the world over…in that case, he (or she) has no excuse.
Bruce
It is far from an obsession. A few pictures being taken never equalled an obsession in my books. When I begin using Marmite to fill up the tube in my airseat, to grease my seatpost, or in place of energy bars, than you can call it an obsession.
Actually I am obsessed. The other night at a local mexican restraunt I was sucking down a jumbo margarita and could only think one thing.
“Margamite” Margarita+Marmite
I beg to differ Adam. I really feel that you are still merely in the “fascination” stage, which is analogous to the popular appeal of, oh, say, … Britney Spears’ snake, or Michael Jackson’s, uh,… sisters.
There’s still hope for you, either way. You could quit cold turkey, perhaps with the aid of another interesting but not nearly so overbearing exotic foreign substance such as, well, if I may be so crude as to suggest an item from the land in which I reside;
Of course, the disadvantage with natto is that it’s even less readily available in your area than M-a-r-m-i-t-e. Therefore, I offer a more easily accessible alternative:
Despite its diminuitive size, Uni has the added advantage of seemingly fulfilling the needs of the dreaded Topic Police.
Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress/regress.
We ought to save the natto discussion for after UNICON XII. Then we’ll talk about it for the following two years. Looks interesting, though. I’m game to try it.
What was that small picture? sushitiny_uni.gif?
Bruce
C’mon Bruce! Don’t ya know some Uni when ya see it?
My most humble apologies but no, I guess I don’t. More cultural experience on the way? Outside the desired topics of this forum, what is Uni?
Bruce
In English; sea urchin. Uni (pronounced oo-nee) is the sexual organs (gonads/ovaries) of the hermaphroditic sea urchin. It is one of the most expensive varities of sushi, and about 8 out of 10 Japanese people declare it to be their favorite type.
Spelling-wise, it’s a lot more on-topic than that stuff Adam’s nearly obsessed with.
Uni is my favorite. I use Sarah Miller’s olfactory extrapolation argument to describe how it tastes to the uni-nitiated. Since I told her the argument is invalid to make it appear that she must have at one time actually tasted an antibiotic ointment, I will not go into how I describe the taste of uni.
What I am unable to get, even in Seattle, is herring roe which is bought by the Nipponese in huge quantities. I wish they would leave some for me to try just once. There is a reason that they buy all of it and I want to find out what that reason is.
the other Uni
Greg, this is Kazunoko, or herring roe. Not to deny you the experience, and tastes do differ, but it’s nothing to get exited about IMO. It’s expensive, high-cholesterol (as with all eggs), mostly flavorless, and has the same texture as an innertube patch. It doesn’t taste bad, just plain boring. Unlike Ikura and Tobiko, the eggs are stuck together in one tough, neopreney slab. It’s in demand here especially at New Year’s because it’s one of the traditional foods items for the holiday. It carries the same symbolism as rice thrown at (Western) weddings, and as eggs and bunnies at Easter. Yes, all those tiny eggs are a fertility symbol.
As for Uni/sea urchin, I can take it or leave it.