BS: My mate Marmite

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 15 Apr 00 - 10:10 AM

I used to love cod-liver oil and malt. I think we used to get a spoon full of it every day.

Malcolm, I am almost falling off my chair laughing at the thoughts of your beer.

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 15 Apr 00 - 03:24 PM

In the dark recesses of our cupboard there is a small jar of Marmite which my Brit wife bought on a trip home. Maybe I'll gulp give it a try.

I have acquired the taste for several English foods, though. Coleman's mustard is essential on sandwiches. Golden Shred marmalade is also one of the great cuilinary achievements of the AngloSaxons. The sausages, especially in sausage rolls, are great, as are Digestive Bisquits.HP Sauce is quite nice, as is English Bitter Ale, clotted cream, and PG Tips tea. I also like Ploughman's Pickle with Cheddar Cheese and fresh-baked bread.

And yet there are some who berate the English for their food. Hrrumph, say I.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Apr 00 - 03:51 PM

"Radio Malt" was what I was given. You could eat it by the spoon or put it on bread. I suppose it probably had cod-liver oil in it, but I don't know, because it was very much like the Malt Extract you can get for making home made beer if you're lazy.

And there was Scott's Emulsion, which had a picture of a bloke in a Sou-Wester carrying a large fish on his back, but it didn't taste at all fishy. I loved that too.

The thing was, with rationing, anything sweet-tasting seemed a treat. Like cough sweets.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 15 Apr 00 - 04:55 PM

In my heady student days, many moons ago, I had a summer job on a packing line at Boots factory in Nottingham. One of the first ones I ever had to deal with was jars of hot malt extract. A lot of the others told how they were made to have a spoonful each day. So I tried it. Yechhh! At least my mum only inflicted cod liver oil onto me. After that the line went onto packing the "hopped" malt extract that went into the brewing kits. Certainly smelled better.

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Llanfair
Date: 15 Apr 00 - 07:47 PM

Cod liver oil is foul. I was made to take it as a child, an couldn,t stand it.
Had a long discussion with my brother tonight in the pub. He lives in Burton-on-Trent where marmite is made, and says that the lorries are constantly to-ing and fro-ing all day, collecting the spent yeast from all the breweries there.
Funny thing, though, bovril and oxo cubes are also made there, and not a cow in sight!!!! Hwyl, Bron.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 06:05 AM

Yep, Shambles, one version of our NZ Maltexo had cod-liver oil added. The Maltexo factory in Dunedin became Wilson's Whisky Distillery - alas, now defunct - but there's still a hangar-full for me to drink my way through. None in hand tonight...;(

Since we've gone from yeast extract (Marmite), to Malt Extract, let's extract a bit more from related childhood "health foods" - how's about that Malted milk drink - Horlicks?

Wonder if that's made from brewery/distillery offcastes too?

Cheers - Sam

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 06:29 AM

This is great stuff! The thread, that is -- I've never tasted Marmite, or any of these other things. I was going to restart an expatriate Philadelphian thread a while ago (soft pretzels, cheesesteaks, Tastykake), but all these Commonwealth comestibles sound so wonderfully otherworldly. Then again, I now live in the place that has the highest per capita consumption of Spam in the world. Fortunately, I'm a vegetarian. Maybe I should try Marmite at that. I'll see if I can find it here; after all, there is a Union Jack in the Hawaii state flag.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: GUEST,Ickle Dorritt
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 07:30 AM

When I lived in Greece about ten years ago-i used to bribe holiday makers to send pots of marmite over to me when they returned to the UK-I was absolutely desperate for the stuff! now I have it everyday can't live without it . as for cod liver oil and malt-it was wonderful . do you also remember those lovely orange junior aspirin and haliborange vitamin tablets??? and dream topping-haven't had that in years. Toad in the hole is batter pudding with british sausages (ie bread and meat and herbs not just meat like continental sausages) goes wonderfully with mashed potato and onion gravy.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: TerriM
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 09:51 AM

I loved those orange flavoured disprin so much as a kid that I took a whole bottle once and had to have my stomach pumped. My kid brother was also made to have his stomach pumped 'cos I wouldn't tell if he'd shared. Turns out I had given him nary a one so he had to go through that for nothing. He's 39 now and still hasn't forgiven me.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 12:03 PM

I've got packets of Dream Topping in the pantry right now. As for kids' health supplements, my mum used to dose me with Minadex, an orange flavoured vitamin and mineral syrup, every time I'd been ill and all through the winter too. I used it with my kids years ago, but haven't noticed if it's still around.

Ok. Let's really see who lied about their age - who was an Ovaltiney, and can sing the song?!!

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: GUEST,Ickle Dorritt
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 04:27 PM

I was neveran Olvaltiney-far too young-however, if you are really nice to me I will let you ogle my Blue Peter badge!!!

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Ed Pellow
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 04:30 PM

Ickle Dorrit,

Wow! You have a Blue Peter badge!

What was it for? I spent years sending off pictures for competitions, with no luck...

Do tell

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: GUEST,Ickle dorritt
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 04:41 PM

I could lie and say that it was for a particularly wonderful sticky back plastic and spent washing up bottle creation-but actually my rather battered badge was picked up in an antique (I ask you!) sale in Beverley 2 years ago. I like to think that Val or even Shep has handled it at one time and shall of course be passing it down the generations. However, I think I am probably able to impress you if I say that I have been in the Cage on TISWAS many years ago! Knew you'd be impressed!

P.S (Do you think they'll bring back Crossroads?)

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 05:10 PM

The Ovaltineys were even before my time (apart from te TV commerical back in the 70s - but here is a site I've just found which has all about them, and lots of songs in Real Audio.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Billy the Bus
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 12:15 AM

McGrath, you're a miracle. Pretty sure I never heard the Ovaltineys as a kid in NZ in the 40s - NEVER allowed to "Commercial Wireless" - it may have been on here. However, the second site, which it led to......:)

"Happy days are here again" was the theme-song of "Napier Frivolity Players" at that time - learned a few good songs from them!

"Wish me luck as you wave me goodby" - the only "family" photo on my wall is Dad, in bed, ogling Gracie Fields - hasten to add the bed was in Auckland Public Hospital, near the end of the war. One of my earliest childhood memories was visiting him there.

Don't think anything I find on Mudcat will beat that as my earliest blast from the past. Must see if I can find a sound clip of Gracie singing the song.

Thanks, mate - you little bloody ripper!

Cheers - Sam

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 02:28 AM

Hey, Ickle dorritt, which episode of TISWAS? I have 2 videos. My then 2 year old son used to be mad on Lenny Henry's "OOOKAAAAY" character. Being a grown up, we used to come in from the pub on a Saturday night and watch the spinoff programme "OTT".

The Ovaltineys weren't before my time, but I never heard of them until the 70s when someone I worked with used to always be singing the song. We didn't listen to commercial radio when I was a kid, or at least if we were living in the areas where it would be broadcast (London?) I was only about 3. I just used to associate Ovaltine with a girl holding a basket of farm produce!

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 05:57 AM

On the subject of TISWAS and food - remember D.C.M? De Condensed Milk sandwiches. I believe people actually eat these things. To bring things full circle, give me Marmite any day!!

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: IanC
Date: 17 Apr 00 - 06:01 AM

Hi!

I know that the Marmite's with the jam, but yesterday I discovered another rule whilst in Sainsbury's. Specially for you, Kevin.

It appears that, whilst Black Treacle is with sugar, Golden Syrup is with the honey (and hence, by the way, with the jam).

Life can sometimes be utterly enthralling.

Cheers!

IanC

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Penny S.
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 05:10 PM

University Challenge, a quiz show, had a question last night about the waste product of Burton breweries named after a French earthenware casserole!

And I was brought up on a malt product called Virol, which was absolutely disgusting in the true meaning of the word. And learned to read from it's ads, dark blue and orange metal sheets fixed the the railway bridge by Tonbridge station. "Virol - expectant mothers need it" "Virol - adolescents need it" - did I have a vocabulary?

Penny

(And Minadex, too. And Liquafruta for coughs, redolent of garlic)

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 08:41 PM

But, best of all the childhood dietary supplements, Rose-hip Syrup.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: The Shambles
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 02:42 PM

Now that takes me back. I used to make the stuff, when I worked for a company that made medicines. The name of the company, believe it or not was called Paines and Byrne.

With all these products called 'I really do not believe it's not butter' or Utterly Smutterly. I think I will come out with one called 'Didn't we used to call this margerine?'

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 03:07 AM

My mum used to give my Orange and Rosehip syrup. Now that was seriously nice. With my dad working in the local chemist shop there was no shortage of supplements (except the malt extract, thankfully).

Don't you think, though, that we tend to feed our offspring the same sort of things we were given as supplements?

mouldy

ps - the aforementioned cookery book is called "My Mate Marmite", and the French student I tried to interest in it had never heard of a "marmite" as illustrated on the label!

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 09:21 AM

Virol disgusting, Penny? I loved it.

Tastes differ. Some people don't like Guinness. I can't stand hamburgers.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Ed Pellow
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 09:29 AM

I'd be grateful if someone could explain what 'virol' is (was)?

McGrath, Never met anyone who didn't like Guinness. Do you not even like cheese burgers?

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 10:18 AM

Ed, I've never met her but Alison calls Guinness "The Vile Black Stuff" - and she is from Ireland originally!

I don't remember Virol but I was given Haliborange tablets and Rose Hip syrup as well as the cod-liver oil and malt. I seem to remember my mother making some rose hip syrup a couple of years ago - I must check as I think it is very easy to make.

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Ed Pellow
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 11:30 AM

Mouldy,

Can you please tell us more about the marmite cookery book?

I like marmite in omelettes, its a great addition to anything to do with mushrooms, and it's a splendid alternative to butter in finishing off pasta.

Would be grateful for any more uses from your booklet

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 04:25 PM

Ok Ed, The book was published in 1992 as a fundraiser for the NSPCC. I bought it at a local supermarket. The ISBN is: 0 946555 24 9 for softback and 0 946555 25 7 for hardback. It is structured like a normal cookery book and covers everything apart from desserts! However in the starters section there is one for stuffed pears which uses either avocado or William pears. There is a sandwich in the relevant section called a "Bronx Buster" which uses bagels, mayo, marmite, German/honey mustard, cream cheese, salami, tomatoes and raw peppers. As the book says, a meal in itself. There are also quite a few vegetarian recipes. I have the softback book and I think it cost me around £5.99. Hope you manage to get hold of it.

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 22 Apr 00 - 03:42 AM

Should have also mentioned: the book's proper title is "My Mate Marmite - In The Kitchen" and it is written by Rosemary Moon.

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 22 Apr 00 - 04:38 PM

Virol - I suppose it was some kind of malt extract mixed with other things. Probably another by product of the breweries. It looked a bit like Marmite, at that. But very sweet.

It was designed as some kind of health food way back I imagine in the 20s or earlier, but in the time of rationing and after you'd find it used like jam sometimes. Even in cafes. But the Virol's not with the Jam now, because they stopped making it. Maybe they found it was bad for you or something, which is tricky in a healty food... More likely it fell victim to some creep, in a suit in a company merger.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: GUEST,Penny S. (having trouble with an updated br
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 04:12 PM

I think it had orange in it, and perhaps cod liver oil, too. It was the texture I found awful. Given it in a dessert spoon, almost too big for my mouth. Possibly a symptom of dyspraxia or something. I now take malt extract when necessary with no problem.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Apr 00 - 06:08 PM

"having trouble with an updated br"

That sounds pretty awkward!

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: GUEST,Penny S.
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 07:44 AM

browser!

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 05:44 PM

Sorry to rejoin the thread after a gap but I've been away in Liverpool! can't remember which episodes of TISWAS I can only remember being very drunk very wet and chris Tarrant being a complete shit. I also had my knees appear on Young Scientist of the Year -so I have tasted fame in my time! Whilst we are remembering our youth -I never had anything to do with drugs but I do remember Collis Brown which was a stomach remedy, but which we used to knock back with a bottle of Newky Brown to get very drunk indeed! Do you also remember those sweets that fizzed/crackled in your mouth-wierd or what???? By the way I stayed in a very nice hotel in Liverpool and was their Marmite at breakfast -was there my aunt fanny -its a conspiracy!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Ed Pellow
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 06:13 PM

Ickle Dorrit

By "those sweets that fizzed and crackled" do you mean 'Moon Dust?'

A sadly shortlived (or perhaps not)craze of the mid 70's...

Ed

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 06:27 PM

Moon Dust -yes well done Ed! That must go down along with that cheese stringy stuff as the wierdest food stuff of all time!(apart from mushy peas that is)

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Apr 00 - 07:53 PM

"The wierdest food stuff of all time!" Naah - think deep fried Mars bars!

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Patrish(inactive)
Date: 28 Apr 00 - 05:07 AM

I love marmite. I used to love malt extract wth cod/halibut liver oil, my mum used to give me and and my big sister a dessert spoonful a day. I can remember trying to get as much on the spoon as possible - winding it round and round using the spoon as a sort of bobbin. And then trying to get it into my mouth without making a mess. Then that wonderful taste - it never lasted long enough for me - I would suck my teeth for ages afterwards trying to recapture it. I havn't had any for years, I didn't think they made it any more.
The most disgusting thing I remember eating - is school dinner semolina with lumps and rosehip syrup in the middle even the thought of it makes me want to gip.....
Patrish

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 28 Apr 00 - 05:44 AM

I wish I'd never started this thread! The thread creep into other items has brought back all the memories of the horrid things we sickly war babies were force fed: Virol, Codliver-oil-and-malt,raw liver ("for the iron")and some terribly sweet "welfare orange juic" that was practically solid!
Family legend has it that I ate nothing but marmalade sandwiches for years and I seemed to have every illness going as a youngster but have hardly had a day off school or work with illness since I was about 11 and now eat practically ( + too much of) anything!
I've got the afternoon off to take aged parent out for a pub lunch so we can test the latest theory that beer is good for your heart. He's 84 this year so it may be true!
RtS

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 29 Apr 00 - 03:45 AM

Down in the bottom of my stock cube box I found a Marmite stock cube the other day. Needless to say it was too gammy to use (as if I'd need to with a couple of jars of the stuff in the house). But I had forgotten they made them. It must have been lurking there for several years. I wonder if they still make them...

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Metchosin
Date: 29 Apr 00 - 10:11 AM

Speaking of things that you shouldn't put in your mouth....

My brother and I were served up regular doses of "Maltlivol" and "coddle liver oil" when we were small, but the best came, when our mother switched us to "halibut liver oil" pills. We popped 'em up like candy and chewed with such relish, that our friends wanted to try. After one chomp and the proverbial "yuk" and "pptth", we were viewed with suspicion by our chums, for years afterwards.

As a new "Mom" I must have longed for the solace of Maltlivol and subconsciously knew it was what my "wee bairns" needed. After reading about the value of a good Stout or Port, to ease one through the tensions of "letting down" (cow reference here, for those men not so attuned), I kept my poor harrassed husband busy and broke, with frequent trips to the liquor store for bottles of Emu 999.

It made for contented babes and mom, but it sure made weanining a traumatic affair for all concerned.

This might also have been tied in to my love of certain "mouth washes", when I was small also. Not the horrible "Listerine" types that we had in our medicine chest, but the kind my old Aunty kept in hers. My frequent trips to her bathroom, as a child, when visiting, was prompted by the desire for equally frequent tips of her bottle of "Glyco", an alcohol based concoction, whose odd flavour and wonderful burn, I found enticing.

I don't know if her "Glyco" was "antifreeze" based, but it could explain my burnt out brain cells in recent years.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Metchosin
Date: 29 Apr 00 - 01:50 PM

.......and then again, this might have been better posted on the "Alcoholics" thread......

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Penny S.
Date: 29 Apr 00 - 06:27 PM

Oh no, you've brought back the delicious taste of gripe water, of which I never had enough. I suspect that there was alcohol at the base of that.

And my mother kept giving us Collis Brown's, of which the active ingredient was opium.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Apr 00 - 07:30 PM

Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be!

And nostalgia ain't what it used to be neither.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 29 Apr 00 - 08:26 PM

When I was a boy and didn't eat all of my mashed potatoes, green beans, and meat loaf, my Dad would say " Finish your food, son. Don't you know children in Europe are starving." Roger, McGrath, Penny, Patrish...now I understand! YOU are those children! I wouldn't have felt nearly as guilty had I known of all the delicious cod-liver oil/marmite feasts you were enjoying.:)

LEJ

Oh, and the first generation of pop-in-your-mouth stuff was "Moon Rocks". They were tiny congealed lumps of sweet exploding matter. The manufacturers of Moon Rocks waited 6 months after the craze had died down, then released the by-product of Moon Rock production- Moon Dust! Now THAT's marketing!

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 29 Apr 00 - 09:02 PM

Gripewater had a lot of alcohol in it, in the 1950s at any rate.  I can still remember the taste.  Later on, they replaced most of it with sugar.  I never came across "Collis Brown's", but when my parents moved to Norfolk in the mid-'70s, they met a lot of people who had been given poppy tea when they were small, basically to keep them quiet.  It was an infusion of the Opium Poppy, of course, and therefore rather effective...

Malcolm

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: roopoo
Date: 30 Apr 00 - 02:53 AM

I have heard of Collis Brown's Gripe Water. Also Dinneford's and Woodward's. My mum used to give me Nurse Harvey's and I had to be weaned off it. I can remember as a small child finding some in the cupboard and taking little sips when my mum wasn't around. I loved the taste! The last time I was pregnant I drank loads of it to settle my stomach.

I have some old (1940s and 50s) women's magazines, and it is interesting to see what is advertised in there for children, including, in 1943: Virol Children are Healthy Children - "Thousands of the Virol children of yesterday are distinguishing themselves in the war-time tasks of today. Virol, too, is the food on which their children in turn are being equipped to tackle the peace time tasks of tomorrow." Stirring stuff! And of course there had to be one - "Soup made with Marmite always 'goes down' well!" Also another make called "Yestact" from the Trent Teast Extract Co. Ltd. at Burton-on-Trent!

I think they called Moon Dust "Space Dust" over here in the UK. I can remember trying it, and I did hear of someone who gave some to their cat to see how it would react... I think it had to be coaxed down off the curtain rail, poor thing.

mouldy

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: Rob the Ranter
Date: 30 Apr 00 - 03:21 AM

My wife is expecting and her doctor tells her to take her vitimin B. Both Guiness and Marmite are loaded with it but she wont touch either and I cant get enough of either. I am an American with a Scottish mother and an often overwhelming penchant for British foods - probably because growing up our kitchen was often stocked with packages from the UK. Most Americans dont understand my taste for Marmite but U.S. supermarkets have been selling it for years and someone must be buying it besides me.

Subject: RE: BS: My mate Marmite
From: harpgirl
Date: 30 Apr 00 - 08:26 AM

...I'll wager the stuff would do well in the compost heap now wouldn't it....I remember my grandad blowing dry golden seal down my throat through a rolled up newspaper for sore throats....another yuck!