Vegemite: Operating Instructions
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Where is he gay today? A Qantas lounge, somewhere on Earth
Dear World,
We're sick of telling you how to eat Vegemite. Every tourist who gets breakfast on a Qantas plane opens the little pack of Vegemite, scoops up a mouthful, tastes it, and gags.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Vegemite must be eaten as carefully as the fugu fish!
So, for the last time:
- Vegemite cannot be eaten on its own. You must spread it on something. Most Australians prefer buttered toast, but Vegemite has dressed everything from an avocado to a well-done steak. That's Australian cuisine for you.
- Be sure you butter your toast. Vegemite loves oily or fatty foods. Without lubrication, it will adhere to any surface: teeth, tongue, or throat. Melted cheese is also popular.
- By the way, the manufacturers recently introduced a version of Vegemite with the cheese already in it. It caused a national uproar, mainly because it had such a dumb name—iSnack 2.0.
- To make this clear for Americans, it would be like Oscar Mayer calling a hot dog iMeat 2.0 with integrated ketchup. For Brits, the equivalent would be iFish 2.0 with inbuilt chips. So they had a contest to choose a new name.
- The winner? Vegemite Cheesybite. "None of the above" came a close second, we understand.
- Spread Vegemite THINLY on your buttered toast. Vegemite is powerful. You only need a little.
- The combination of the melted butter, the salty, nutty flavour of the Vegemite, and the bulk of the toast makes the perfect hangover cure for those with a queasy stomach.
- Mothers also make Vegemite sandwiches with cheese as a kiddie snack, because of the high calcium and vitamin B content. It might be partly responsible for our national addiction to salty, cheesy snack foods. If you're lucky, we'll let you have a Cheezel.
Yours Sincerely
Australians
P.S. We eat kangaroos, too.