An interesting trend??

If the 18th/19th Century British really wanted to punish their convicts, they should have left them in the UK while everybody else moved to Australia. Better weather, more space....

Apparently some people were sent back to the British Isles at the end of their 'sentence' and reoffended in order to 'have' to go back to Australia!

OK Lotus Eater, I'm a peaceful and reasonable person, but you asked for this.

If you're in the UK and can't find Vegemite, go to a major supermarket, find the Marmite, and next to it you'll see the Supermarket's less-expensive own-brand version. That, I promise you, will taste a lot more like Vegemite than Marmite does. The Marmite people have a secret process which gives it that unique and magisterial depth of flavour.

Interestingly though, I have the spellcheck on as I write this, and it accepts Vegemite but not Marmite. Hmmm...

and it accepts Vegemite but not Marmite. Hmmm...

USAnian Spellcheck! That's because Vegemite was....umm.....errr...invented by a USAnian!














But he was living in Australia at the time.

OK Lotus Eater, I'm a peaceful and reasonable person, but you asked for this.

If you're in the UK and can't find Vegemite, go to a major supermarket, find the Marmite, and next to it you'll see the Supermarket's less-expensive own-brand version. That, I promise you, will taste a lot more like Vegemite than Marmite does. The Marmite people have a secret process which gives it that unique and magisterial depth of flavour.

Interestingly though, I have the spellcheck on as I write this, and it accepts Vegemite but not Marmite. Hmmm...

Yay! A civilised voice stirring from the wilderness! 

And the defining word?

VEGEMITE manufacturer Kraft Foods says part of the reason for the great Vegemite famine in Hong Kong (Strewth, April 9) is the spread's increasing popularity with the Japanese. Kraft's HQ in Fishermans Bend has had a recent influx of inquiries from Japanese tourists asking where they can obtain supplies, and whether they can tour the production plant. Apparently Vegemite has been declared by Japanese gourmets to be umami, one of the few foods with an almost mythical fifth taste of deliciousness.

And the defining word?

VEGEMITE manufacturer Kraft Foods says part of the reason for the great Vegemite famine in Hong Kong (Strewth, April 9) is the spread's increasing popularity with the Japanese. Kraft's HQ in Fishermans Bend has had a recent influx of inquiries from Japanese tourists asking where they can obtain supplies, and whether they can tour the production plant. Apparently Vegemite has been declared by Japanese gourmets to be umami, one of the few foods with an almost mythical fifth taste of deliciousness.

Yeah, but their national dish is sushi, one of the most overrated things ever.

I have been asked recently to teach or find teachers for both summer and long term teaching - but specifically for teachers with English or Australian accents.  I have been told (by different 'headhunters') that they are finding the USANian accent too 'hard' for students to understand.

Has anyone else noticed this or is it a sheer happenstance?

 
So how did this OP evolve/devolve into an argument over the opposing "merits" of brown gunk?  Oops!  Gourmet Toast Toppers.

That's a no-brainer.  Vegemite is one of the secret factors that gives Aussies that mellifluous, clear tone of voice, so required in ESL teaching.

That's a no-brainer.  Vegemite is one of the secret factors that gives Aussies that mellifluous, clear tone of voice, so required in ESL teaching.

The rest of us just use Chinese cigarettes.

So how did this OP evolve/devolve into an argument over the opposing "merits" of brown gunk?  Oops!  Gourmet Toast Toppers.

This thread is now so far off topic and trivial I assume Duke Raoul is sitting up in his castle looking down at the peasants brawling in the dirt below, and despairing of ever getting any civilized behavior from them. You give them a place to build their hovels, and this how they repay you.

No, no, no.  You've got it all wrong.  Raoul built this specific pig-sty so the children would have a place to throw mud at each other and he wouldn't have to break up any fights.  It's no rules topic hi-jacking heaven, here.  Why, we could change the subject to whether eric the red smeared himself with Marmite, Vegemite, or Bovril before he got lucky at the class reunion last week, and Raoul would only send me an encouraging e-mail.

Eric, on the other hand 

Well, actually, I was not the one doing the smearing but we'll let that particular topic alone for now

For the sake of everyone's sanity, I have decided to volounteer as an impartial judge. As most will know, both marmite and vegemite are not normally something encountered on my little island and therefore I have no preferences for either product. I have located a store that sells both and will soon hand down my verdict.

Can't say fairer than that. I for one will accept the judgement as final and incontrovertible.

I'm not so sure.  Vegemite requires a sophisticated, educated palate. Marmite, on the other hand, is more suited to a 'vin ordinaire' taste.

I'm not so sure.  Vegemite requires a sophisticated, educated palate. Marmite, on the other hand, is more suited to a 'vin ordinaire' taste.

Then I am well suited for the job. A long, long time ago, when the world was young and innocent, I grew up in Charlottenlund which, to explain it briefly, is like the very nice and posh part of Kent. And I lived in Manchester for a year, buying most of my food at ASDA, so food-wise I was slumming it.