Motus Mentis

16 Comments

1. TheBigHenry says

   “Marmite is a salty yeast and vegetable extract resembling burnt engine oil mixed with treacle.”

   Posted March 20, 2012 at 5:53 pm | Permalink
2. Malcolm says

   I grew up on Marmite, and absolutely love it.

   Both of my parents had come here from Britain, and we depended on my grandmother to send it over for us, because in New Jersey in the 1950s and 1960s you couldn’t find the stuff anywhere.

   Posted March 20, 2012 at 6:45 pm | Permalink
3. TheBigHenry says

   I trust you, Malcolm. I never tried Marmite (nor Haggis, either); so I only report what I read about it.

   :)

   Posted March 20, 2012 at 8:28 pm | Permalink
4. Malcolm says

   As far as I know, anyone who hasn’t been eating it since early childhood thinks it’s utterly vile.

   Posted March 20, 2012 at 9:39 pm | Permalink
5. TheBigHenry says

   When I was a child, I thought that gefilte fish was vile. My father loved it, though my Mom only made it for him a few times a year, because it was a very tedious process (starting with a live carp, which would be swimming in our bathtub, until it was time to start the process).

   As I grew older, and my father persuaded me to try it again (and again), I grew to like it, and eventually to love it as the delicacy it truly is.

   Similarly, when I was a kid, I thought that olives (which my Dad always put in his martinis) were repulsive, but I have grown to love them (with or without the gin and vermouth cocktail, though I usually substitute vodka for the gin).

   I think a person’s tastes in food and drink change significantly as one grows long in the tooth. The changes are primarily cumulative; off hand, I can’t recall disliking anything I had liked when I was a child.

   Posted March 20, 2012 at 10:53 pm | Permalink
6. the one eyed man says

   Vile isn’t the word. It is the most horribly disgusting food in the world, with the possible exception of vegemite. It’s like automatic transmission fluid without the taste. The smell of it is nauseating and the taste will make you wish that you were never born.

   Posted March 20, 2012 at 10:55 pm | Permalink
7. Malcolm says

   mmmmmm…..maaaaaaarmiiiiite….

   Posted March 20, 2012 at 11:28 pm | Permalink
8. TheBigHenry says

   “As far as I know, anyone who hasn’t been eating it since early childhood thinks it’s utterly vile.”

   I mentioned this “Marmite” thread to my wife, the lovely Trish, and to my amazement she produced a jar of it from our pantry! She spent several years in London (as an adult, but before we met), and she actually likes it!

   I plan to try this stuff soon. I will report back here, assuming I survive the experience.

   Posted March 21, 2012 at 11:21 am | Permalink
9. Malcolm says

   The best way to try Marmite:

   Toast a Thomas’s English Muffin, spread generously with butter, then very lightly with the Substance. A little goes a long way.

   Posted March 21, 2012 at 1:11 pm | Permalink
10. TheBigHenry says

    My mouth is watering, even as we speak …

    Posted March 21, 2012 at 2:15 pm | Permalink
11. JK says

    I read the linked article yet I’m still a bit confused.

    This Marmite stuff ya’lls talking about? Same stuff we Arkies see splattered thinly along our Superpave roadways? While it is the case “we” usually use the Marmite word for distinguishing a true hillbilly from a furriner – people from other states or from the Delta refer to the splat as roadkill – it would seem to me there must be some etymological connection.

    Marmite seems to be simply too weird a word for there not to be some kinda connection.

    Posted March 22, 2012 at 9:07 am | Permalink
12. Malcolm says

    You call roadkill ‘Marmite’? I think, as you suggest, that the key is the phrase ‘spread thinly’ — which comes right from the Marmite label.

    Posted March 22, 2012 at 4:00 pm | Permalink
13. TheBigHenry says

    Earth-shattering News: I have actually tried Marmite!

    Verdict: I like it!

    I anticipated that it would taste salty, akin to inexpensive caviar. But, in my humble opinion, Marmite’s defining taste is umami (not to be confused with “yo’ mama”), which prompts the question whether or not Marmite is popular in Japan.

    Adding such a delicacy to my limited range of choices (I have eliminated all sweets and limited my carbs since being diagnosed with Type-II diabetes) is significant. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Malcolm.

    Posted March 23, 2012 at 4:55 pm | Permalink
14. Malcolm says

    Wonderful news, Henry!

    See, Peter? The stuff’s delicious. All right-thinking people agree.

    Posted March 23, 2012 at 5:37 pm | Permalink
15. the one eyed man says

    Well then. QED.

    Not that I have any standing to mock your liking of marmite. My go-to food from childhood is circus peanuts: those orange marshmallow things made of sugar and food coloring. After years of thinking about it, I finally decided that the perfect pairing for circus peanuts is a nice Barolo. A Sancerre wouldn’t be inappropriate either.

    Posted March 25, 2012 at 2:15 pm | Permalink
16. TheBigHenry says

    “… Barolo. A Sancerre …”

    Interesting choices, given that one is a full-bodied Italian red and the other is a light French white. If I didn’t know better, I would hazard a guess that facetiousness is in play …

    Be that as it may, my current choice for pairing with a Marmite-topped English muffin is a glass of California pinot noir.

    Posted March 25, 2012 at 4:21 pm | Permalink