Now in the interim between my last post and this one a few things have happened: my cultural home stay experience just outside of the Mecca of Marijuana, I celebrated my golden birthday (turning 21 on the 21st), bought my own didgeridoo, got better at surfing (not much better mind you), and began my 5 week research journey in earnest. But none of these developments compare in impact to my developing an appreciation of Vegemite. It looks like nutella but has more in common with roux.
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| Heaps of Vegemite |
For those of you who don't know, Vegemite is a uniquely Australian spread made by Kraft. It is made from fermented yeast, the waste product of beer production. As far as taste goes, well it is certainly an acquired taste. It is extremely salty, despite its chocolate-esque appearance. It's flavor is so...shall we say unique, that if an Australian sees you eating Vegemite, they pretty much assume that you are Australian yourself, or if they know you are not one of their 20 million compatriots they offer you citizenship on the spot.
Over the course of my months here I have been routinely trying Vegemite. Something about the super salty mixture made my taste-buds tingle. I've come to appreciate it more and more, to the point that I actually seek the stuff out to put on my buttered toast every morning. I surf (kind of), I play the didgeridoo, I'm super nice and easy going, and I eat Vegemite. Who knew? I'm an Australian!
