Vegemite

We've all heard of the infamous Vegemite. It's an Aussie staple, and the general word is that it is horrible. Naturally though, I felt that I can't be living here for 6 months and never taste it. So I decided to get some in the most cost efficient way possible. I bought these vegemite cracker packs, assuming I wouldn't like it enough to eat a whole jar. It was a good call. I was able to share with my housemates, and we all got to taste it. 

Here in the states we assume that it is a substitute for peanut butter, which isn't really the case. Vegemite is a yeast spread that most Aussies eat spread thin on toast with butter (which is how i opted to eat it on a cracker, see below). They don't glob it on the way we do with peanut butter, and they don't eat big scoops like we do with peanut butter. After tasting it the reason why is fairly obvious. It is the saltiest thing I've ever tasted. Saltier than soy sauce, and saltier ocean water. SO SALTY! I wasn't expecting it, so I hated my first bite. But I ended up finishing my cracker. I actually want to try it again on toast spread even thinner. I guess it's a good way to add salt to something, but really not something I particularly enjoyed. Especially since it is particularly fragrant. It smells like yeast, and not the good yeastily bread smell, the beer yeast smell. Which, isn't surprising seeing that the yeast that goes into making it is recycled from the breweries (a fact I learned on the brewery tour). It also has a gummy black texture, and really does not look appetizing. 

Apparently, if you grow up eating it you like it (or tolerate it) and otherwise it's hard to like. Also, a lot of Aussie's I've meet aren't particularly fond of it, so I guess I'm not alone. Definitely not my favorite Australian food, but I'm glad that I bite the bullet and tasted it!