 |
Mitsubishi 4WD Owners Club of Qld (Inc) |
|
|
|
Vegemite |
 |
|
|
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||
VEGEMITE – THE PERFECT CAMPING COMPANIONMost Australian homes would have a jar of vegemite in the pantry. Not only is it a fair dinkum home grown favourite it is uniquely versatile as it can be used for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as smoko and happy hour. It was way back in 1922 that Fred Walker, who oddly enough owned a company of the same name (which later became Kraft Foods Australia), had the bright idea of using yeast extract left over from the manufacture of beer to create a wonderful source of vitamin B and a tasty new spread for every Australian to grow up with. The man who actually invented vegemite was a food technologist named Dr Cyril C. Callister (it’s not just the yanks who have such fancy names). It took him many months to perfect the formula which has barely changed in 80 years. Nice one Cyril! Now there must have been something about offering prizes to come up with product names because as with Spam, Fred offered the huge prize of $100 for someone to come up with the name vegemite. History, unfortunately, does not record the name of the winner but we do know that the winning entry was selected by Fred’s daughter. Vegemite was launched in 1923 with the promise that it was “delicious on sandwiches and toast and improves the flavour of soups, stews and gravies”. Well he was certainly right on that bit. But vegemite was not an overnight success as it took 14 years of perseverance from Fred before vegemite became a regular item on shopping lists. Vegemite first had to overcome its arch rival, Marmite, which was already well accepted by Australians. This thick, dark, English spread must have given poor old Fred some sleepless nights. In fact things got so bad that at one stage Fred decided to relaunch vegemite as “Parwill” Parwhat you ask? Well if Marmite then ……Parwill. Get it? No? Well it was tried in Queensland and no one there got it either so it was back to vegemite for Fred. Eventually in 1935 Fred gave away a jar of vegemite with every purchase of a product from the Fred Walker Company. The promotion lasted two years, Australians tried vegemite, loved it and the rest, as they say, is history. Over the years vegemite has come in a wide variety of novelty containers ranging from two ounce jars to 6 pound tins. During the war vegemite was strictly rationed as our armed forces took much of the production. Vegemite was officially endorsed by the British Medical Association just prior to the war, allowing vegemite to be advertised in the Australian Medical journal. This meant that medical professionals could recommend vegemite to their patients as a rich source of vitamin B. The next big boost for vegemite came with the baby boom after the war with an official endorsement from baby expert, Sister McDonald, who told the Women’s Weekly readers that “vegemite is most essential”. Welfare centres were recommending babies have their quota of vitamin B1, B2 and Niacin (whatever that is) and of course sales surged. And we have to thank a waste product of beer for all that. No wonder it’s one of our favourite foods. It was in 1954 that the vegemite jingle was first performed on radio when three happy little vegemites burst into song and in1956 it became a television commercial. And to top off all that vegemite again created history in April 1984 when a 115g jar became the first product in Australia to be electronically scanned in a supermarket. So there you are and here’s a great little vegemite recipe for you to try for your next camping trip.
LAMB SHANK AND VEGETABLE SOUPIngredients 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 8 lamb shanks dusted with plain flour 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, extra 3 carrots, diced 2 onions, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 tablespoon minced garlic Small bunch of mixed herb sprigs (sage, thyme, rosemary etc) 2 litres of water 2 – 3 tablespoons vegemite 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 cup chopped green beans or broad beans. What you do with all that Heat the oil in a large saucepan; add the lamb shanks and cook over high heat until well browned, all over. Remove shanks. Heat extra oil and cook carrots, onions, celery and garlic until browned. Return lamb shanks to pan with herbs, water, vegemite and tomato paste. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat for two hours or until lamb shanks are cooked and tender. Add broad beans and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove herbs and serve. Enjoy your camping and your cooking.
|
|
|
