It is a by-product of beer brewing and is currently produced by British company Unilever.
The product is notable as a vegan source of B vitamins, including supplemental vitamin B12. A traditional use is to spread it very thinly on buttered toast.
Marmite is a sticky, dark brown paste with a distinctive, salty, powerful flavour and matching heady aroma.
This distinctive taste is represented in the marketing slogan: “Love it or hate it.”
Such is its prominence in British popular culture that the product’s name is often used as a metaphor for something that is an acquired taste or tends to polarise opinion.
Marmite is commonly used as a flavouring, as it is particularly rich in umami due to its very high levels of glutamate (1960 mg/100g).
Type Yeast extract spread
Inventor Justus von Liebig
Inception 1902
Manufacturer Unilever
Available Available
Current supplier Unilever
USAGE
Marmite has traditionally been eaten as a savoury spread on bread, toast, savoury biscuits or crackers, and other similar baked products. Owing to its concentrated taste, it is often spread very thinly in combination with butter or margarine.
It can be made into a savoury hot drink by adding one teaspoon to a mug of hot water, much like Oxo or Bovril. It is also commonly used to enrich casseroles and stews.
Marmite is often paired with cheese—for example, in a cheese sandwich or a cheese-flavoured biscuit such as Mini Cheddars. In the UK, Starbucks offers a cheese and Marmite panini. There are Marmite-flavored varieties of Walkers Crisps, and of some brands of rice cakes and biscuits.
Marmite has also been used as an ingredient in cocktails, including the Marmite Cocktail and the Marmite Gold Rush.
Celebrity chefs have created signature Marmite-flavored recipes: Nigella Lawson has one for Marmite spaghetti, and Heston Blumenthal has one for Marmite consommé.
In 2020, Marmite launched a campaign on Instagram—“The Great Marmite Experiment”—-encouraging people to share their Marmite-flavored recipes. The many entries in response included roast potatoes, beef Wellington and cookies.
Marmite[30]
per 100 g per 8 g serving
Energy 1153 kJ 92 kJ
Calories 271 kcal 22 kcal
Protein 39 g 3.1 g
Carbohydrates 29 g 2.3 g
of which sugars 0.6 g <0.5 g
Fat <0.5 g <0.5 g
of which saturates <0.1 g <0.1 g
Fibre 3.1 g 0.1 g
Salt 6.1 g 0.49 g
% RDA
Thiamin (B1) 13.6 mg 1.09 mg 99%
Riboflavin (B2) 8.5 mg 0.68 mg 49%
Niacin (B3) 86 mg 6.9 mg 43%
Folic Acid (B9) 1500 µg 120 µg 60%
Vitamin B12 25 µg 2 µg [31] 80%
RDA = Recommended Daily Allowance
Suggested portion 8 g
INGREDIENTS
Marmite ingredients
The main ingredients of Marmite are glutamic acid-rich yeast extract, salt, vegetable extract, spice extracts and celery extracts, although the precise recipe is a trade secret.
How is Marmite Used?
The classic use for Marmite is to spread it thinly on a piece of toast with a layer of either butter or margarine. Or serve it with cheese in sandwiches, cheesy toasts, or on crackers. But you can do so much more with this handy little spread
Marmite is rich in B vitamins and has no added sugar. So, compared to some breakfast spreads like jam (or dare we say, Nutella) it is good for you. There are only 22 calories per serving in Marmite, so it's definitely a low calorie spread option for toast.
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