Guest Author - Tania Nadarajan

Vegemite is Australia’s most famous food, so famous in fact it has been likened to an Australian icon. Nothing symbolises a typically Aussie meal as much as a Vegemite Sandwich.

While Australians love their Vegemite, to the rest of the world, it is just a black, salty, mushy and totally unappealing breakfast spread.

When Vegemite was first launched in 1923 by Fred Walker and Cyril Callister, it was equally unpopular among Australians. Vegemite not only had to compete with Marmite, the English breakfast spread, but its very strong and unique flavour also made it hard for Vegemite to gain widespread popularity. In 1928, Vegemite was relaunched as Parwill in the hope that it will give it a much needed marketing boost. The clever slogan “If Marmite…..then Parwill” did not meet with any success. It was only the two year coupon redemption scheme launched in 1935 that enabled Vegemite to gain widespread acceptance and recognition as a breakfast spread. With a jar of Vegemite given away with every purchase of other products in the Fred Walker range, the taste of Vegemite was spread among the Australian nation.

Today, Vegemite is so popular it is found in the pantries of 9 out of 10 Australian households. It is definitely an acquired taste and with Australian kids brought up on Vegemite, it is no wonder that for every 1 jar exported overseas, 30 jars are sold locally in Australia. Australians obviously love their Vegemite more than anyone else in the world.

Part of the reason it is so popular is also because of its touted health benefits. Made from concentrated yeast extract, it is the richest known source of Vitamin B. So power-packed is its nutritional value that with a single 5g serve of Vegemite on toast, you will have met a large proportion of your Vitamin B intake.

Vegemite is primarily made up of yeast extract concentrate, extracts from vegetables like onion, celery, malt extract from barley and salt. This recipe has remained unchanged for 85 years.

Vegemite was sold to American Kraft in 1935. Ironically, this much loved Australian icon is wholly owned and produced by American companies.

Vegemite is a savoury, salty spread. The best advice when trying Vegemite is to spread it on as thinly as you can on toast, along with some butter or margarine, so its strong flavour will not be so overpowering.

Another favourite is Tiger Toast - spread toast with some Vegemite, then melt strips of cheese onto the toast, creating a visually striking resemblance of yellow and black strips similar to that of a tiger.

Vegemite can be used in a great variety of sandwiches and toast, in soups and in gravies. For some tasty ways to use Vegemite in your cooking, refer to this website for recipe ideas – Enjoy! http://www.vegemite.com.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=recipes.welcome