Marmite

Every English person I've ever talked to about it have said the same thing about Marmite; Either you love it or you hate it.

Maybe I've been living under a rock because I had never heard of Marmite until my fated better half introduced me to it. And even when he handed me the proverbial yellow-lidded black jar, I was still awed by the product and kept wondering, "So, what do i do with it?" Even after reading the label that clearly said MARMITE Yeast Extract, Contains B Vitamins. 100% Vegetarian, still, I was baffled. Yeast extract? So, do I bake with it? Vegetarian? Do i cook with it? B Vitamins? Do I take a dose-a-day like vitamins? Then finally i saw, on the back label, printed ever so finely, the words "Delicious spread thinly on toast". Ahhh i see, vegetarian "butter". Nice, so I thought.

So I unscrewed the lid and took my first whiff of this new "treat". Well, it smelled exactly like yeast; sour, distinct, and medicinal, and also, it looked far from edible - like a cross between honey and tar. Unsure but always ever willing to try something new (I'll pretty much eat anything at least once), I took a tiny spoonful. The stuff tasted just like it smelled. It was like eating gooey yeast!! It was safe to say that, for a while, in the "love it or hate it" category, i felt the latter. However, characteristic of so many people in my field, I was challenged! Having been a little kid in an Asian Pacific country surrounded by all kinds of food bizarre to Western palate, and then having grown up in ethnic San Jose, California where, hell, food can be as diverse and as questionable, as in any foreign country, I could not possibly dismiss this food stuff. It just was not in my heart to and could not give up on this new "find". After all, there's a whole country of Marmite lovers so there has got to be something to it. I guess it was more a challenge to take something that might not be conventionally yummy, and doctor it into something edible and actually satisfying.

So, with some helpful English advise here is the best way to eat Marmite:

Toast bread and let cool.

Spread some regular butter on toast (toast should be cool enough to not melt the butter). What you want is texture of room temp butter on your bread.

Spread Marmite evenly and ever so thinly.

Eat.

Surprisingly, this application made my toast extremely savory. It was savory enough that I did not need nor crave eggs or bacon or any meat product with my breakfast that fated morning. I began to understand how a vegetarian person could appreciate and even need such a product. It was a fun revelation.

So there it is, my answer to a meatless meal that's probably very healthy for me. And it was actually...nice. Safe to say, I have now embraced the "I love it" category.