Monday, February 27, 2006
New Moon and Odd Food
I always feel calm when the moon is black. It is as good a time as any to talk about some unsettling foods. I don't feel all that calm this time.
I have been reading Richard at Goat Food for a few weeks and I enjoy his style. He is from the U.K. and writes in a way that keeps my eyes on the text looking for real English spellings and his Continental expressions. He has been struggling with some of the traditional British ideas of eating things like Marmite and Bovril. I had to look these things up on Wikipedia. They sound awful in their descriptions alone. They are both rich in salt and yeast. Marmite is very very thick and has two Ausrtralian cousins known as Vegemite and Promite. All these odd spreads are a brewers yeast and vegetable mix cooked down to a resin and used on sandwich set-ups with butter and/or beet root (a.k.a. beets in the U.S.). Bovril has a beef or ox base for its origins, but the modern version is all vegetable. Bovril seems like a thick liquid buillon stock by the way it is described and used in hot water as a soup/drink kind of thing. Bovril is the only one of these items used for soup stock, as best I can find.
I would bet that Red Molly of Blue Page Special fame could find some way to make this stuff edible.
I can not tell you how pleased I am that there is no American cousin to these fine British products. I can hear mama saying, "Jed, Eat your Amerimite if you want to grow up big and strong". I can hear my smart alecky younger self saying, "I don't want to be big and strong if I have to eat that crud to do it".
Y'all visit Goat Food and wish Richard good luck with his taste experimentation, it can't make matters any worse.
I have been reading Richard at Goat Food for a few weeks and I enjoy his style. He is from the U.K. and writes in a way that keeps my eyes on the text looking for real English spellings and his Continental expressions. He has been struggling with some of the traditional British ideas of eating things like Marmite and Bovril. I had to look these things up on Wikipedia. They sound awful in their descriptions alone. They are both rich in salt and yeast. Marmite is very very thick and has two Ausrtralian cousins known as Vegemite and Promite. All these odd spreads are a brewers yeast and vegetable mix cooked down to a resin and used on sandwich set-ups with butter and/or beet root (a.k.a. beets in the U.S.). Bovril has a beef or ox base for its origins, but the modern version is all vegetable. Bovril seems like a thick liquid buillon stock by the way it is described and used in hot water as a soup/drink kind of thing. Bovril is the only one of these items used for soup stock, as best I can find.
I would bet that Red Molly of Blue Page Special fame could find some way to make this stuff edible.
I can not tell you how pleased I am that there is no American cousin to these fine British products. I can hear mama saying, "Jed, Eat your Amerimite if you want to grow up big and strong". I can hear my smart alecky younger self saying, "I don't want to be big and strong if I have to eat that crud to do it".
Y'all visit Goat Food and wish Richard good luck with his taste experimentation, it can't make matters any worse.
:: posted by Tennessee Jed, 8:18 PM
13 Comments:
I have never cooked with Marmite although I have heard of it. Maybe I will mix up a batch of haggis and throw a little Marmite in. I like your Amerimite slogan "Back sass your mama good! That's great...except when you back sass your mama she'll slap your ass back good.
Thanks for the link to Goatfood. I hope I can quit working so much and get back to reading blogs.
Thanks for the link to Goatfood. I hope I can quit working so much and get back to reading blogs.
I feel like I must quote A Fish Called Wanda here: "The chip. The English contribution to world cuisine."
God, I could go for some chips right now...
God, I could go for some chips right now...
Jed, I'm ready for cynical exploitation of the US general public if you are. It doesn't matter, they expect it. I have a labeling plant in Estonia poised...
Amerimite sounds great to me! And if it can't be eaten, I'll bet I can find some use for it in goat medicine.
I bet it would work well for road patch or roof pitch.
Gosh I love having a fun idea and reading y'all's comments!
Gosh I love having a fun idea and reading y'all's comments!
Copyright that bastard now!!!!! Remember, pet rocks, pop rocks and the dehydrator from Ronco, all big money makers. You will be not only rich, but beloved by Southerners and Yankees alike.
heh heh. Something called "yeast spread" isn't exactly appealing, sounds kinda "medicinal". But then again, years ago I developed a red-hot love for eel-roll sushi, so ....
And I can almost hear Homer Simpson saying, "Mmmmmm .... ox base ...."
And I can almost hear Homer Simpson saying, "Mmmmmm .... ox base ...."
I bet if you put seeds on top of it you could grow an edible Chia Pet.
As friend to many from across the pond, I should speak up on some American food choices that our British cousins find, well, questionable.
Peanut Butter:. They don't get, they don't want to get it, and they wish we wouldn't get it. Peanut Butter is probably the closest thing in usage to their Marmite.
Root Beer: They hate it. I have some British friends that will twist their face up into an ugly ball at the mention of root beer. Although I do have the odd Irish pal that loves it.
Peanut Butter:. They don't get, they don't want to get it, and they wish we wouldn't get it. Peanut Butter is probably the closest thing in usage to their Marmite.
Root Beer: They hate it. I have some British friends that will twist their face up into an ugly ball at the mention of root beer. Although I do have the odd Irish pal that loves it.
I'm afraid I have to take issue with one of the commenters on this 'ere food subject. Peanut butter has been on our shelves and eaten regularly by all and sundry for at least 40 years, if not more. Sunpat is the brand to go for, with a choice of crunchy or smooth, although there are cheaper brands available. We don't, however, understand the twinning of peanut butter with jelly. What is this jelly malarky, anyway? Is it what you call jello or some kind of bland geletine based product? Explainations on a postcard, please.
~Sharon
~Sharon
I had a guy from work bring some of that Marmolite stuff. He said you got to try this stuff,hadnt seen any fer quite a while. ( He's from Texas, We are in Washington state)So I put some on a butter knife and tried it. The only thing I can say that will come close to my feeling for that stuff is," If I was a dog I'd be lickin' my ass to get rid of the taste in my mouth". Awful stuff.
Ah...the Amerimite had me laughing so hard...niice.
My friend from Australia says that vegimite is horrid; I wanted to try it just because of the Men at Work song, but thankfully he talked me out of it.
Nice blog!
My friend from Australia says that vegimite is horrid; I wanted to try it just because of the Men at Work song, but thankfully he talked me out of it.
Nice blog!
Marmite is the spread that built an empire the likes of which the world will never see again.
Dismiss it at your peril, my colonial cousins.
Dismiss it at your peril, my colonial cousins.
