In praise of… Vegemite

Richard.G

The Australian obsession with the yeast extract spread suggests a patriotism pleasingly free of pomposity.




We're not privy to what William Hague packs in his diplomatic bag but venture there are no Yorkshire puddings in there. But for his Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd, there is one taste of home it doesn't do to travel without. The former (and conceivably future) prime minister this week came a cropper at American customs, where officials puzzled over his Vegemite jar; he joked ministerial interventions were needed to prevent confiscation. Don't imagine this is a mere eccentricity of the famously geeky Rudd: it is a shared national obsession, as evidenced by the prime minister, Julia Gillard, having discussed it with Barack Obama earlier this year. The president judged it "horrible", by the way, reacting as half the population is said to do to its close cousin Marmite. If anything, the latter is the better yeast extract: the only difference in the ingredients is Vegemite's caramel colouring, while its texture veers towards Nutella, which fits oddly with the savoury taste. But you wouldn't know it from talking to Aussies. Far from invoking an imaginary army of Vegemite haters in the way that Marmite does, the marketing traditionally assumed straightforward affection, with smiling children being "happy little Vegemites". For whatever reason, however, this gloopy sludge is splodged at the pinnacle of the pyramid of national cultural emblems, alongside Edna Everage. And, like the cross-dressing comic, the worship of a yeast derivative suggests a patriotism that is pleasingly free of pomposity.