The Vegemite Debacle Resolved

After a horrific Oklahoman summer in which the earth was scorched, we had one glorious minute of fall, and then winter weather set in. With highs in the 20s and 30s, and even a blanket of snow twice, it’s obvious I’m not going to get a Hallmark-movie-style fall. But rather than dwell on that, I want to talk about Amazon. 

As an Australian, I grew up with Vegemite. Over the years I developed a taste for Marmite, which is English and a bit milder than Vegemite, and then Promite, which has a sweeter taste. I love all of them. When I moved to America at the beginning of 2021, I brought over one large squeezy container of Vegemite. America has everything, I thought, so surely they’d have Vegemite somewhere as well. But they don’t. 

My Vegemite sat quietly in the pantry, untouched for a year. Once I realised I couldn’t buy Vegemite at any grocery store, I became too scared to use it. Vegemite is precious. A month or two ago I relented — I was craving Vegemite so badly that I had to break into my stash, and once I’d started with that familiar salty yeast paste smeared on everything, I couldn’t stop. To make matters worse, I discovered that Trader Joes sells crumpets. I buy crumpets weekly and top them with Vegemite. They’re also delicious with honey, or peanut butter, or cheese, but my favourite way to eat them is with Vegemite. Obviously the Vegemite was going to run out very soon and I had to start rationing it again. 

Enter Amazon. A lot of people criticise Amazon for their monopoly and I too have views on this, but there’s no denying how handy it is. Order one day and it’s delivered the next. From the practical to the obscure, Amazon has it all. As things would have it, Amazon also has Vegemite, Marmite and Promite available to order. It’s not cheap mind you, but it is available. 

I placed an order for Marmite, which was quite reasonably priced compared to the Vegemite, and I received it in two days! One whole, luscious jar of Marmite. It is so good I’ve been eating it with a spoon. Not whole spoonfuls — I’m not a savage! I’m planning on ordering Promite next, and then some more Vegemite. 

Vegemite on crumpets is one of the most familiar tastes from home that I have. Vegemite on toast is what you eat when you’re sick. A Promite sandwich on crusty  bread fresh from the Vietnamese bakery is the perfect snack. 

I can’t get the nice crusty bread over here, but having access to all of my favourite spreads because of Amazon makes a huge difference to my life. Familiarity is so important to all of us, and when you have moved to a different country it’s especially important. So my thank you for the day is to Amazon for keeping me supplied with black, yeasty breakfast spreads!