Last Updated on August 19, 2019 by Michael

Vegemite, a yeast-based extract, is the official food of Australia. It is smeared on toast and crackers just like we would use jelly or butter. The dark brown substance looks a bit like Nutella but please don’t let that fool you. It may look sweet but it derives its unique bitter flavor from being the byproduct of the process for brewing beer. Vegemite has been compared to road tar, solid gravy mix, intestinal fluid, engine sludge, the gunk that gets trapped in sewer vents, brown epoxy glue, road kill effluent and other things too unmentionable to mention, so we won’t. And those are from the people who like the stuff.

Vegemite

Workers operate 24/7 stocking Vegemite

As part of part of our trip Down Under we decided we just had to try this food that almost everyone in Australia loves and has become as much a part of the national psyche as kangaroos, boomerangs and Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s waning poll numbers. Click the video below for the first Changes In Longitude taste test. BTW, that clucking noise you hear in the background does indeed come from a live chicken who just wouldn’t cooperate.

Are there any other foods you’d like us to try?

Click the link for more stories about our Australia travel