Vegemite

For being a Good cockroach in a previous life, I was rewarded with teaching a lab section for the Food & Fermentation Microbiology [F&F] course in the Biosciences BSc, The Institute had a policy that no course should rest entirely in a single Lecturer's portfolio. otoh The Union resolutely and repeatably stomped on the idea that such cross-dressing would enable flexibility of delivery in case of, say, a medical emergency. So it was hard to see the benefit. But I was really happy with the assignment because I learned a lot. The Real Microbiologist, who did the formal lectures and carried the other two lab sections, had worked for Guinness in that capacity in both Europe and Africa. He had a particular affection for LABs - lactic acid bacteria - without which no silage, no kimchi, no cheese, no yoghurt and really terrible wine.

That course gave structure to my interest in food engineering which has been a running theme in The Blob while I was still working at The Institute. I was quick to snag a promising Food.Eng earbook from Borrowbox last week Vegemite The True Story of the Man Who Invented an Australian Icon written and read by Jamie Callister (2023). Borrowbox is owned by Bolinda, the Australian audio and large print book publisher. I get to read some Oz-niche books.

Jamie Callister is the grandson of Dr Cyril Callister (1893 -1949) an Australian chemist and food engineer who invented Vegemite in  the 1920s when supplies of Marmite [original and best] dwindled during and after WWI. Like soy sauce, Nattō, Surströmming, crubeens; Vegemite is an acquired taste. Dr Callister had spent much of WWI working in an enormous munitions factory at Gretna on the Scottish borrrder. A large part of his work was QC and process tech, to ensure that neither he nor any of the 16,000 other employees blew themselves to buggery through carelessness or system failure.

invented Vegemite was by no means a >!shazzam!< event. They had a target product in another edible non-meat black paste called Marmite. I know I was confused as a child between *mite and, say, Bovril which ultimately came from beef . . . and was a little more runny? Reducing a vat of beige spent yeast from brewing to something you could slather on toast . . . and eat, depended both on the initial product and the details of the process. A little more of this or a tad less of that and the result could be a sulphurous, curdled mess that not even the dogs would eat. Record keeping is key to reproducibility. And scaling up from test-tube and beaker to a car-sized vat is not obvious to all thinking people: surface-to-volune ratio is one aspect that needs to be calculated and thought about.

And after all the science, it took 15 years of marketing and long-game company belief before Vegemite was washing its face for the accountants. By which time another War was shipping thousands of Ozzie soldiers abroad.  One of those was Cyril's son, the author's Uncle Ian, who became a spitfire pilot and died in a tragic fog-of-war accident while taking off on a mission in New Guinea. He was only 21. The Wikipedia entry looked a bit sparce "" Between 1919 and 1927 the Callisters had three children: Ian, Bill and Jean, who were "the original Vegemite kids". Drew is a great-great-grandson and loves his Vegemite. During World War II, Ian died"" so I added a Virtual War Memorial Australia link.. I hope young Drew continues to get his Nine Words Of Fame for a while.

Turns out that Vegemite has achieved global hegemony is available in  Ireland, so we can do a custard: compare the product with Marmite. Celery surprised me.

Vegemite: Yeast Extract (from Yeast Grown on Barley and Wheat), Salt, Malt Extract (from Barley), Flavour Enhancer (Potassium Chloride), Colour (E 150c), Spice Extract (contains Celery), Niacin, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folic Acid . €4.00 220g €18.18/kg. [ooops, no cobalamin = vitamin B₁₂]

Marmite: Yeast extract (contains BARLEY, WHEAT, OAT, RYE), salt, vegetable juice concentrate, vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B₁₂ and folic acid), natural flavouring (contains CELERY) €4.99 250g €19.96/kg