The Mystery of the Missing Marmite

In which a surprise discovery in made in the shops, the perfect sandwich is made, and Covid-19 causes an unexpected problem

A Surprise Discovery

I was delighted to happen across Marmite Peanut Butter on the shelves of my local supermarket, but having purchased and sampled the stuff feel compelled take the unusual step of writing a review of a jar of spread. The review is very simple: NOT ENOUGH MARMITE.

Despite its place in British popular culture, there is such a thing as too much Marmite. Aficionados will recoil in horror, but I can remember my mother intervening to save an exchange student who had applied Marmite to his toast as others would apply, say, chocolate spread. Marmite’s distinctive flavour and salty taste are not to everyone’s liking, hence the love-it-or-hate-it advertising campaign and the use of its name metaphorically where opinions may be strongly divided. Marmite lovers are able to judge their own optimum amount on bread or toast, while many haters have been probably put off by being served toast with too much marmite in childhood.

In my blind-tasting trials, Marmite Peanut Butter did not get a chance to invoke the love/hate reaction; it was hard to tell whether it contained any Marmite at all.

Making the perfect sandwich

That’s not to say that Marmite and peanut butter together is a bad thing. They have been served together since World War II where the combination represented the special relationship between the UK and USA. But an essential ingredient missing. I will explain.

Resorting to late-night toast, a common British tradition after a night out, a friend requested peanut butter, Marmite and honey. I joined him – with a certain amount of suspicion – and experienced a road-to-Damascus-like conversion to this Holy Trinity; my sweet-and-savoury saviour. For those unfamiliar with Biblical metaphors, I should point out that this occurred in Bristol, not Syria. The friend further asserted that a combination of any two of the Trinity, as well as all three, would make an excellent toast topping or sandwich filling. Obviously there are other variables to consider – choice of bread, crunchy or smooth peanut butter and whether Vegemite can be used instead.

Several years later – finding myself having to explain ternary plotting (aka triangular graphs) to A-level Geology students – I used PBHM (Peanut Butter–Honey–Marmite) as an introductory example. Much tastier than the sedimentary rocks I could have started with.

As you can see, each ingredient has its own corner – and any sandwich filling can be plotted somewhere in the triangle depending on the proportions of the three ingredients – like the graphs you drew in maths but with three axes rather than two. Quite simply, the closer a sandwich is to the marmite corner, the more Marmite it contains.

Look at where points A-C are plotted and see if you can follow how we get these percentages:

A. 50% Honey, 50% Marmite. No Peanut Butter

B. 20% Peanut Butter, 60% Honey, 20% Marmite. A bit on the sweet side.

C. 50% Peanut Butter, 30% Honey, 20% Marmite. That’s round-about my ideal sandwich combination.

Now see if you can decide which of points D- F is the correct composition for Marmite Peanut Butter.

I’ve thought about having a chart like this on my kitchen wall, detailing each family member’s favoured sandwich combination. Note: I’ve only thought about it.

Pandemic Problems

One recent and unexpected effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is the sudden shortage of Marmite in the shops. The number of bigger jars available is limited at the moment. Marmite was invented in 1902 by Justus von Liebig - who also gave us the Liebig condenser and Oxo – and has been manufactured in the UK ever since. So why the problem with supplies? The Marmite label shows a picture of a marmite – the eponymous French cooking pot – as well as the description “yeast extract”.

The yeast referred to is a by-product of beer-brewing. Since the Covid-19 lockdown, pubs and bars across the UK have been closed. The subsequent decline in demand for beer and slowdown in the brewing industry, has interrupted the supply of the yeast used to make Marmite.

There are those who claim to be able to tell from the colour and viscosity of their Marmite whether is was made from lager or bitter yeast. Marmite themselves have produced limited editions made with Champagne and Guinness yeast, and now craft-brewer BrewDog are offering to help out to prevent a global Marmite outage. Just watch: Twiglets will be next.

Postscript

With the combination of Marmite and Covid-19 in mind, Redbubble are selling face-masks in their “Marmite pride” pattern. The jars making up the pattern differ in colour and design from the standard – no doubt for copyright reasons.

How fashion has changed.