Hundred Years: Happy birthday MARMITE – and many happy returns!
My English colleague Carol obviously
enjoyed her sandwich. I was
intrigued about what interest this
piece of cold toast could have and
asked her. She smiled mischievously
with tongue-in-cheek (in the real
sense of the word), opened the slices
and showed them to me. Well, what I
discovered that morning did not even
need “so many words” to describe,
one was enough: Yuck!
What Carol had spread thinly on a
slice of dry toast looked like a dark,
disgusting and slimy glue… How
could she…?
This was my first encounter with
THE English cult savoury spread
called Marmite. But meanwhile I
have changed my mind about it so
much that for a long time already I
have joined the fan club, members of
which inform each other immediately
when they find a shop where this precious,
versatile, tasty and healthy
“glue” can be bought in Belgium.
Marmite, the typical English food
treasure, has been enjoyed for hundred
years now and is today not only
as popular as ever but at the same time
generally recognized for its nutritious
values: the basic raw material of
Marmite is brewer’s yeast, a rich
source of B group vitamins. The company’s
publicity “A small quantity
added to the daily diet will ensure that
you and your family are taking sufficient
Vitamin B to keep nerves, brain
and digestion in proper working order”
has had a good ring to it for generations
now.
It is probably hard to find one English
kitchen without this versatile
MUST of culinary tradition which is
used on sandwiches and toast for
breakfast or as delicious addition to
stews and casseroles at lunch time and
for soups and broth in the evenings.
This dark brown yeast paste is a hundred
percent vegetarian and provides
a safe source of vitamin B 12, Riboflavin,
Niacin and Folic Acid.
For slimmers, Marmite is a pleasant
sandwich spread which contains
practically no fat or sugar and takes
dietary boredom out of calorie-restriction.
Even though it tastes salty
there is actually more salt in the bread
than in the Marmite that is spread on
it. It is certainly no exaggeration to
say that this yeast extract with the distinctive
flavour is loved by babies and
grannies alike.
Herma Caelen
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