It is well known that the British have an "odd" taste in foods, often enjoying flavo(u)rs that the rest of the world would generally consider offensive.   This page will discuss some of the more nauseating English "delicacies:" (Vegemite is actually Australian, but is in the same genre)

Surprisingly there are quite a few sites praising the glories of these assaults upon the taste buds (see end of page),  This page is dedicated to quite the opposite.

These three products basically fall into a group of sludge-like foul flavo(u)red extracts of meats and/or vegetable that is traditionally considered either: a) waste, b) catfish bait, or c) roofing tar.  Bovril, in essence, is a thick liquid cow product, whereas Marmite and Vegemite are both concentrated yeast extract, i.e. they are derived from the grunge and sludge that is left over after the beer brewing process (yummy!).  Brewers such as Bass even pay for these companies to remove this sludge from their vats.  All of these products taste worse than the mental image that you may have just created !

 

If you have been fortunate enough to avoid tasting these products, here are some descriptions from the various places around the internet ( http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tasteless/phrase-book/index.html ) which should hopefully eliminate any curiosity you may have, and thus your risk of actual consumption.  Don't be fooled into tasting this stuff!

VEGEMITE - can be bought in some health stores and isn't really the canned stool sample that rumo(u)r claims it is. Here are some first hand experiences with the edible caca: "I too have had vegemite. I found a stock in a "health food" store. US$ 2.69 for a 4 ounce (113 gram) jar. "5 calories per serving". It has an odd, purply-brown colo(u)r, and a smooth, thick, sticky texture. The "axle-grease" association is accurate. It does indeed have quite a strong salty, yeasty flavo(u)r, and you had better spread it on VERY (!) thinly. I think it looks like a substance from my native land called "catfish dough bait", only said bait is a bit grainier, not as creamy. Catfish dough bait has a thick, liverish, bloody odo(u)r to it, and appeared to be a compound of mud, blood and pureed liver. On a hot day, opening the tub of dough bait and inhaling deeply could give you vertigo and motion sickness. I find it hard to believe that "marmite" has a stronger, more vicious taste than vegemite. "Vegemite" has a pretty vicious aftertaste, and because of the yeast extract, it tends to come back to you later, in belches. It's also one of those foods with such a peculiar taste that no matter what you eat afterwards, vegemite is the taste that sticks with you."

"Well, as a New Zealander, I can truthfully say that Marmite is the only real yeast extract worth eating. Vegemite is for wimps, while Marmite is for real men. It has a much stronger, more vicious aftertaste than Vegemite."-- enticing, isn't it??

"It was the grossest thing I ever tasted. It's about as thick as peanut butter, and to say it tastes like shit would be an understatement."

"It is very strong, try a little, then impress your friends with what looks like eating slabs of bread wiped in black excrement." 

Ok, I know that quite a few of you who have read this page are not pleased with my interpretation and representation of the products.  Send me a note with your comments.

There does exist some scientific explanation of why certain groups can eat these products without vomiting.  There are approximately 40-80 genes for "bitter recognizing" proteins.   Presumably these this allowed pre-historic man to avoid eating poisonous foods.   Without these proteins it is conceivable that there exist people who sense something completely different (particularly Americans) when they spread Marmite on a banana.   A Science News article from March 2000 discusses this in more detail. 

To be fair and balanced, I will also state that there are people who actually enjoying consuming these industrial food processing waste products, the cause of this is presumably due to genetic predisposition and/or protein deficiencies.