Guess what I found at Kroger

I have a friend currently living in England who did a fabulous post a few months ago about Marmite (click here). While my friend and her dog (the fabulous Trudy!) didn't like the Marmite, the ingredients, description (salty, oniony, soy saucey, savory, caramely, beef boulliony) and nutritional information sounded intriguing.

My friend sent a jar back to the states through channels which got clogged at the BFF Jack juncture, so we agreed to meet for lunch sometime when my friend is home for the holidays.

Though I still hope to keep the lunch date, one less item will need to be packed for the trip home. While shopping at Kroger Friday, I didn't have a list so I went up and down each aisle. As I walked up an aisle I seldom travel, my eyes were drawn to the bright white letters on the red background that you see above: MARMITE!

As luck would have it, I have my son's dog Oakley here with me for my Marmite tasting experiment. Don't worry Cory and Jamie, I only gave him a small taste...in the interest of science.

• The experiment began on a questionable note when I opened the jar and the Marmite jumped out of the jar, ran down my hand and onto my kitchen counter. Evidently, it made the trip from England upside down.
• I carefully leaned over the jar and took a cautious whiff and thought, "Mmmm...smells good."
• Oakley, who rarely stands on his hind legs, danced around the kitchen with his nose in the air intrigued by the savory goodness.
• I dipped my pinky finger into the jar and took a little taste and thought it tasted interesting: color of soy sauce, texture of melting caramel, taste was salty, beefy and yeasty. Not bad.
• Oakley was beside himself with excitement.
• I toasted a couple of pieces of bread and spread a tiny bit of Marmite onto the bread.
• I tasted it and...uh...yuck. Something about the heat from the bread caused my Marmite experience to take a turn for the worse. All the things I thought I liked about the condiment were now multiplied by about 200 percent and not in a good way.
• I gave Oakley a tiny taste and he ate it. No problems there. He is part Jack Russell after all. Isn't that a British breed?
• After two pieces of turkey lunch meat, three grapes and a strawberry and thirty minutes later, I still feel the Marmite in my throat. I'm not kidding. Some of it is clinging desperately to the back side of my esophagus and won't let go.
• Not only that, I still taste it and can't get the smell off my hands from when the stuff originally jumped out of the jar at me.
• Since I paid $6 (!) for the tiny jar, I put it in my refrigerator so that my guests can be amazed at my sophisticated tastes.
• I put it right beside the Coors light and a jar of salsa.

"Just a Plane Ride Away," I hope we're still able to keep our Christmas time lunch date, but we shall never speak of Marmite again.