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How to make your own Marmite

April 7, 2011 135 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

home made marmite

home made Marmite

 When I started blogging I searched around for an original name. Not an easy task, blogger rejects any blog name that has already been chosen. I reached deep inside myself and thought about who I truly am, my background, my influences, formative experiences and I came up with the moniker MsMarmitelover.

For I am a Marmite baby. I had Marmite on toast for breakfast every morning. On getting home from school, my brother, sister and I devoured an entire white loaf smeared painterly with Marmite: dark brown paste on soft white bread with yellow butter. Once, on being asked what earthly object I’d like to take with me to heaven, pharaoh style, I said, with only the briefest reflection, “a pot of Marmite”. 
It never occurred to me that you could make your own until a chap I met on a dating site casually let drop that he was a keen home brewer and that he knew people that made their own Marmite. My ears pricked up, incredulous, you can make your own? I felt like I’d discovered The Great Work, the philosopher’s stone. 
Internet research led me to geeky home brewing forums, which didn’t reveal much. Delving further, I was led to the Marmite Facebook group where fans were posting tentative recipes. Some of these recipes used alien foreign ingredients such as Braggs: it seemed even Marmite-deprived Americans were getting in on the act. 
My role as MsMarmitelover meant that I was able to go straight to the top: after some negotiation with the Marmite authorities, I was given a telephone date with  St.John O. Skelton, Master Blender of the Marmarati Order or, more prosaically, Quality and Innovation Expert at the Marmite factory in Burton On Trent. He was willing to help me but darkly intimated that making Marmite was “dangerous and hard to control”.
The location of the Marmite factory is due to its proximity to all the breweries. Marmite is seasonal; beer is more watery in summer, and batches are blended together to ensure consistency. There is fluctuation in texture but the hallmark of Marmite lay in its smoothness as opposed to the more granular Vegemite. 
St.John, yes that is his first name (‘don’t ever call your kids St.John, computers don’t recognise the full stop in email addresses and you get teased at school’) could not of course disclose the highly guarded secret recipe to make Marmite but gave me indications, a starting point from which to embark upon home-made Marmite.
St. John suggested using baker’s yeast rather than brewers yeast.. But my experiments revealed that baker’s yeast is too cloudy, while brewers yeast will eventually separate, evincing a dark clear solution.
To obtain the brewers yeast, I visited a local London micro-brewery, Redemption Brewery in Tottenham to obtain ‘beer scum’ or ‘top fermentation’. 
I’d always assumed that celery and carrots formed the ‘vegetable extract’ part of the flavouring process, but St. John let slip (was it a mistake or a red herring?) the word ‘turnip’. Could turnips be the Marmite secret ingredient?

Recipe for home made Marmite:

A litre of Brewer’s yeast (top fermentation from a brewery)
A little sea salt
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 turnip, diced
1/2 celery stick, diced
1) Put a litre of brewer’s yeast with a little salt, in a bain-marie. Simmer at blood heat, 30 to 40 ºc for ten hours or overnight.
2) Then simmer this mixture at 50 to 60 º c for 2 to 3 hours.
3) Boil at low temperature 90ºc  for half an hour. (In the factory they have a special machine for this, or you could ascend a mountain of 10,000ft, to achieve low altitude boiling)
4) Filter though coffee papers or a sieve and cheesecloth
5) Let it cool for a day or so. It separates further.
6) Filter again.
7) You then want to convert it to a paste. This is best achieved by putting it in a large flat pan and simmering. On an Aga, you can simply leave the pan on the lid for a few hours. Keep an eye on the mixture. 

“We have a man in the Marmite factory whose job it is to watch Marmite evaporate. Literally like watching paint dry” explained St.John cheerfully.

8) Meanwhile boil up all the vegetables until they are cooked. Strain off the liquid and incorporate into the Marmite paste. 
9) Let the mixture reduce into a Marmite like texture. Do not allow it to burn:

“We do not want to develop caramel notes” warned St.John. 

The entire process takes about ten days.
This home-made Marmite admittedly tastes different, like something German and healthy in a tube. Lacking the specialist equipment to ‘debitter’ the yeast, it will have beerier flavours, rather like the Guinness or XO Marmite. 
It was a comfort to know that I could, in a pinch or say, a calamitous event such a terrorist attack on the Marmite factory, DIY my own Marmite. But realistically, I’ll probably stick to shop-bought.
Have you experimented with making your own Marmite? Or any other easily bought condiment such as mustard or ketchup? Do they compare with the famous brands such as Colman’s, Maille mustard or Heinz?
Update: the main problem was the bitterness of the brewing yeast. The solution is to wash the yeast. You achieve this by putting the top fermentation in a jar full of water. Eventually the yeast will settle on the bottom of the jar. Pour off the water and fill the jar again with fresh water. Do this several times to wash the yeast. Then follow the recipe above.
msmarmitelover drunk with Marmite pot
Portrait of myself (by Audrey Gillan after 7 bottles of wine.)
vintage Marmite pot
Vintage pot of Marmite with metal lid.

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Comments

  1. Devadeva Mirel

    April 7, 2011 at 11:20 am

    love this love you! going to pass this post on to my favorite couple. a brit married to a kiwi. they get along great, except when it comes to who's marmite is better!

    Reply
    • Louie

      October 10, 2019 at 3:53 am

      I will most certainly give this a go, with one notable ingredient substitution: spinach and/or swiss chard stems for the celery … or maybe Belgian endive …
      A brother (of a different Mother – Father too) is quite allergic to celery, and this may WELL be the reason the product is frowned upon so to the North and East, in the lands where the Sun don’t shine (awesome fjords- bad celery allergies).

      I’ll let you know, even though likely a decade after the recipe.

      Reply
      • msmarmitelover

        October 16, 2019 at 8:59 pm

        please do!

        Reply
        • Jutta

          October 11, 2020 at 12:48 pm

          Canada here … how do I used dried brewer’s yeast in this recipe? There’s a terrifying lack of Marmite here at present (thank you COVID) and my British husband is bereft.

          Reply
          • msmarmitelover

            October 11, 2020 at 1:15 pm

            I used literal brewers yeast not dried. Go to your local beer brewer and ask for some of the top fermentation

      • Paul Watt

        June 17, 2020 at 11:02 pm

        Brewer from chile here

        Never tasted the marmite, didn’t want to drop a possible ingredient, to a foreign and interesting flavors… Have read about everything… Fishy flavor… Wonder flavor…. Battery acid and transmission oil…. Want to try it want to test its cooking!!!

        Also… Is it real the “vitamin b”? Comes from the process or is it added later???

        Greetings and i love your recipes!!!

        Reply
        • Paul Watt Arévalo

          June 17, 2020 at 11:05 pm

          Maybe a video conference tutorial???

          I would really like to meet you!!

          Reply
      • James

        August 17, 2020 at 12:55 pm

        Hey! I have a brewery in Argentina, am a Marmite addict, and have problems getting the stuff! Your story has inspired me! Could even get a side hustle going and start Argenmite to sell to the expats. Did you do any more experiments? Do you have any other links to share?

        Reply
        • msmarmitelover

          August 27, 2020 at 4:49 pm

          haha well I need to retest it…

          Reply
          • Paul Watt

            November 5, 2020 at 3:44 am

            Well please tell me more about it I really want to know all about how to make it

            Best regards, Paul.
            Hope everything is ok

  2. Marmaduke Scarlet

    April 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    Haven't made marmite but have made worcestershire sauce . . . a lot of effort but worth it for the sense of adventure! Am going to make some Harveys sauce next, culled from Good Things in England (Florence White) a book I have wanted to get my hands on for literally years. BTW . . . while buying GTIE at Waterstones in Charing X, your beautiful book was displayed very prominantly. It is next on my list, I promise!

    Reply
  3. Dom at Belleau Kitchen

    April 7, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    I love this story!… my aunt made a documentary about the Marmite factory years ago… I'll see if I can hunt it down for you x

    Reply
  4. chumbles

    April 7, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! I sooo love the portrait – after 7 bottles of wine. I don't know who had what on which side of the camera, but I can't walk pr talk after 3.5 bottles of wine. Although at the time I always think I can…

    Reply
  5. UK Dating Sites

    April 8, 2011 at 6:40 am

    Hi,
    This is such a lovely post. I just love the Marmite. I really liked the pictures as well. Well done. It is quite a well compiled post.
    🙂

    Reply
  6. theundergroundrestaurant

    April 8, 2011 at 8:12 am

    I'm afraid Mr chumbles, it was Audrey that had all the wine. Still it made for a nicely blurry photo of me!

    Reply
  7. scandilicious

    April 8, 2011 at 8:54 am

    What a brilliant idea, making your very own marmite. Interesting to note the differences between bakers and brewers' yeast, great post.

    Reply
  8. The Curious Cat

    April 8, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    amazing that you made it! That is dedication! xxx

    Reply
  9. Gin and Crumpets

    April 10, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    This is brilliant! I love the warning that Marmite is "dangerous and hard to control" and have a new found respect for Marmite. Imagine being the man watching Marmite evaporate all day.

    Reply
  10. The Greasy Spoon

    April 19, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    Have you ever tried the Australian alternative, Vegemite? Have to admit to liking it. Slighty lighter in taste than Marmite, perhaps? Nice, old-fashioned packaging, too.

    Reply
  11. theundergroundrestaurant

    April 19, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    Greasy spoon: yes I have. Gotta say I prefer Marmite. I think it depends what you are brought up with…

    Reply
  12. alex di 'food 4 thought'

    June 10, 2011 at 10:45 am

    Fantastic! I particularly love the picture of you with the Marmite jar on your head! I jest. More seriously, I wish I could try your recipe. Unfortunately, as an ex-pat, it is all I can do to hunt down a few precious jars of ready made Marmite – I wouldn't stand a chance of finding brewer yeast nor, would you believe it, parsnips!
    Shame, because my husband would happily live of the sticky stuff. He gets it sent over from UK for his b/day!!!!

    Reply
  13. Catherine

    June 14, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    Thanks for this fascinating post. My new love is marmite pasta. Nigella makes a spaghetti version and I have tried it with many different types of pasta – favourite so far is spelt ridged tubes. I also like it on buttered toast topped with tomatoes cooked in olive oil.

    Reply
  14. asharpknife

    June 18, 2011 at 7:07 pm

    Lot of hits from desperate Brits in Denmark I imagine. 🙂

    Reply
  15. Prawn

    July 6, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    Years ago when I was little someone I remember being called Basil Bell (maybe I dreamed that bit) came to our house in East Africa and made marmite. I only remember it involving boiling a lot of carrots. i don't think we had access to brewers yeast at the time but we probably used lots of bakers yeast. Anyway, I dropped the jar before we had a chance to taste it and it smashed. But we were so desperate for marmite we sieved it through a fine sieve and used it anyway…. your post has reminded me to go through all my mum's old recipe notes and see if she wrote down Basil's recipe!

    Reply
  16. Emanuel Manfred

    July 19, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    Hi, I'm a brazilian home brewer and I'm interested in doing my own Marmite. Thank you for posting this recipe. I'll try do do this after my beer batch. As soon as I taste this I'll return with my experience. In about 10 days I'll be back!

    Reply
  17. Emanuel Manfred

    July 19, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    Hi, I'm a brazilian home brewer and I'm interested in doing my own Marmite. Thank you for posting this recipe. I'll try do do this after my beer batch. As soon as I taste this I'll return with my experience. In about 10 days I'll be back!

    Reply
    • Joe

      February 23, 2020 at 8:56 pm

      Still waiting…

      Reply
  18. Rowan

    October 9, 2011 at 6:31 am

    I just finished making this and I've gotta say I'm pretty pleased at how it turned out!

    I'd had one previous attempt which I tried without following a recipe, I just poured some salt onto some yeast and started boiling it, DO NOT DO THIS! It made something which didn't smell or taste like Marmite but rather exactly like vomit! So thanks for the recipe,it worked much better that trying to make it up on fly. The only point I departed from your recipe was using vegetable bouillon powder rather than making my own stock.

    I'm a homebrewer so I used my own home grown yeast. I live in South Korea where we can get neither English beer nor Marmite so I'm very happy to have killed two birds with one stone!

    Reply
  19. Unknown

    October 9, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    When you filter it, do you take the stuff left in the filter paper or the stuff filtered out?

    Reply
  20. Matthew

    October 9, 2011 at 11:38 pm

    Also, when you boil the vegetables, do you mash up the vegetables or take the water and put it in the yeast sludge?

    Reply
  21. theundergroundrestaurant

    October 10, 2011 at 12:18 am

    Stuff filtered out.
    Take the water and add it, reducing it.

    Reply
  22. Rowan

    October 23, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    Hey, a few questions about this.

    Could you be a little more specific about the amount of salt you used? Mine came out a little too salty, I'm not sure exactly how much I used, I went with "a bit" but considering I ended up with about 50mls from about a liter of yeast, small differences at the start could give pretty big differences in the end.

    Also mine came out paler than real marmite, Yours looks dark in the photo but mine looks dark in photos too, did you get the proper marmite colour? If you did do you have any tips?

    Reply
  23. theundergroundrestaurant

    October 24, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    Rowan: I added salt to taste…until it tasted equally salty to Marmite.
    Re the colour, I have the advantage of cooking on an Aga, which means I can slow cook things for days, even months in different bits of the cooker. It took a couple of days to reduce my marmite to that colour.
    In fact one of the first things you notice about an aga is that you can't leave a dish on the lids…they carry on cooking, reducing.
    Do you have a hot radiator you can leave it on?

    Reply
  24. theundergroundrestaurant

    October 24, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    If anyone can work out a way of making it less bitter…let me know.

    Reply
  25. Mark de San Marcos

    October 27, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    Hi, I'm a Brit living in Guatemala and my Marmite supply ran out 2 months ago. I thought i would give Clifford's recipe a go, but had to make some alterations due to what's available here. So I used:

    1.5 teaspoons Panela (dried cane juice)
    1 (heaped) teaspoon dark miso
    4 tablespoons Nutritional yeast flakes
    1 tablespoon brewers yeast
    1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
    2 tablespoons Braggs
    0.5 teaspoons salt

    I added about 200ml of water and stirred it well. I made the mixture in the pot of my 2 qt slow cooker and set it to low. I left it to do it's thing for about 24 hours, then for about 3 hours every 20 minutes lifted the lid off carefully and disposed of the condensed water on the lid to get the consistency. each time i disposed of the water I scraped the goo off the sides of the pot and stirred it back into the bulk of the mixture. I then let it cool a little and spooned it into an old marmite jar i had kept. the result was pretty good, consistancy was very marmitey, colour was dark and good, maybe a little lighter than it should be….and the taste…..well, it's close but lacks the necessary bite, it's closer to vegemite (if you'll excuse my use of the word). I've now got the second batch going. I have changed the recipe a little:

    1 tablespoon Panela (dried cane juice)
    1 tablespoon dark miso
    2 tablespoons Nutritional yeast flakes
    3 tablespoon brewers yeast
    1 tablespoon vegetable stock powder
    2 tablespoons Braggs
    1 teaspoon salt

    Maybe i should change one ingredient at a time, but i think this may give it sufficient bite. I'll find out tomorrow!

    Reply
  26. Anonymous

    December 23, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    What exactly is Braggs? My husband is a Britt but we live in the states. Impossible to get Marmite in the shops. Would love to try your recipe. I have different things from Braggs, but are unsure what you mean.

    Reply
    • Terry Master Missionery

      September 9, 2020 at 10:09 pm

      Hey! Im Terry, official title Master Missionery in the Marmarati (Second Circle). I also had the worlds only and first Unilever approved Marmite wedding (google Marmite wedding couple), in 2011. This is awesome and i will give it a go! Having taken our sacred spread to 56 countries, i currently live in spain, and whilst it is sporadically available, id love to make my own! Thanks

      Reply
  27. theundergroundrestaurant

    December 23, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    Braggs is an American thing: follow the link…it's a kind of condiment a bit like soy sauce but has amino acids that are good for digestion….worth trying!

    Reply
    • Marka

      April 14, 2020 at 8:34 pm

      I am a little confused about getting a litre of brewers yeast. I only know yeast in a solid form. I purchased some brewers yeast online and it is also a powder. How much powdered yeast would I need to use to prepare a litre?

      Many thanks

      Reply
  28. Anonymous

    December 24, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    Thank you so much! I already have Braggs then. Can't wait to try this out. Just finished pickling some onions too. Many thanks and Merry Christmas.

    Reply
  29. Andyman

    January 6, 2012 at 5:48 am

    This is so cool! I would love to try this. My extract of choice, though, is Promite, Aussie cousin to both Marmite and Vegemite, but "sweeter" and more savory. I love it. I'd like to try to find out how to make that. At any rate, this Yank thanks you for this post!

    Reply
  30. theundergroundrestaurant

    January 15, 2012 at 8:01 pm

    I'm afraid Andyman that I have tried Promite and it's totally bloody disgusting. I guess it depends what you grew up with….

    Reply
  31. Natalie

    January 17, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Oh thank you, I am a South African who just recently moved back to Europe without a huge supply of our staple diet – Marmite, will definitely be giving this recipe a bash!!

    Reply
  32. Anonymous

    January 27, 2012 at 2:11 am

    Nice read. I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. He actually bought me lunch as I found it for him! Therefore let me rephrase: Thank you for lunch!

    Reply
  33. Anonymous

    February 6, 2012 at 4:00 am

    I searched all over the place (even the internet) about three years ago for a marmite recipe and found nothing, I even emailed marmite (without result). so we tried making a recipe up (as we make our own beer). we tried two or three variations, but they were all as horrible as each other!
    We'll certainly give this a go, thanks!

    Reply
  34. theundergroundrestaurant

    February 21, 2012 at 12:21 am

    Natalie and the anonymice: Glad you got lunch and hope this recipe works for you. My main problem with it is to reduce the bitterness.
    I need to work on that but if anyone comes up with anything…

    Reply
  35. Anonymous

    March 19, 2012 at 8:14 pm

    Well lots of people will be looking at your website now that the only New Zealand producer of Marmite cannot make any for some time as the factory has had to close down after the Christchurch earthquake. Have a look at the New Zealand news website about it. People here have begun to panic and shops are being emptied of the last stocks.!!!

    Reply
  36. New Zealander

    March 19, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    Thanks for this – just as I run out of Marmite, the entire country does too :(. Hopefully your recipe is close enough to NZ Marmite to keep the withdrawl symptoms away!

    Reply
  37. meemoo

    March 19, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    LOL you are a legend!

    Reply
  38. Anonymous

    March 20, 2012 at 9:13 am

    The jar is empty and stocks (entire country) are running low. This may just get us through! Thank you!

    Reply
  39. Peter Foster

    May 20, 2012 at 12:18 pm

    A very interesting post.
    I live in Turkey and bring back a jar whenever I visit England.
    I also brew my own beer so may have a go at making my own Marmite.

    My father who died 12 years ago made his own Worcestershire sauce, I only finished his last two gallon batch last year.

    Reply
    • Henri

      March 23, 2019 at 7:27 pm

      Hi Peter, please share us your father’s recepi 🙂

      Reply
  40. theundergroundrestaurant

    May 20, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    What a lovely memory of your father…

    Reply
  41. josie1one

    September 15, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    I live on a small island in Greece and so far have depended on friends to bring me Marmite. I make my own pickled onions but Marmite – ooh, that would be great although brewers yeast… no. For the desperate ones I have used http://www.britstore.co.uk and they're excellent. I will try your recipe with bakers yeast in the meantime! Sounds great and many thanks!

    Reply
  42. sequinn

    September 23, 2012 at 12:25 pm

    Love this post. Might give it a go as I am an addict and its not so easy to get hold of where I live. I rely on visitors to be my Marmite mules. I have made hoisin sauce, sweet chili sauce, mustard with honey, beetroot pickle, mint sauce and a few more. They mostly work well and are a fraction of the cost to buy. Does anyone know how to make Worcestershire sauce? Bloody Marys are just not the same without it.

    Reply
  43. theundergroundrestaurant

    October 5, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    Let us know how you get on!

    Reply
  44. theundergroundrestaurant

    October 5, 2012 at 11:05 pm

    I think I'm going to have another go. But this time I will rinse the yeast.

    Reply
  45. Karen Quinn

    October 23, 2012 at 11:55 am

    I'm so excited and can't believe my luck. Living in a small town in Ecuador at about 2,500m and quite literally living above a brewery. Missing marmite like you wouldn't believe, I feel like this is some kind of divine intervention!!!

    Reply
  46. mark harrison

    October 26, 2012 at 6:58 pm

    It may be divine intervention! i have just got a load of yeast slurry from a local microbrewery. And now i am in the dark. I think i want to rinse the yeast? But the stuff is still fermenting! I am waiting till tomorrow and then i am going to see if i can siphon off the liquor and replace with water. Any advice not on this page much appreciated….mark

    Reply
  47. theundergroundrestaurant

    October 27, 2012 at 11:18 pm

    Mark: yes rinse the yeast to lessen the bitterness. Let me know how you get on.
    Karen: which town in Ecuador? I spent some time there a while ago. I remember a British tourist giving me a pot of Marmite in Quito, I was so thrilled. I know well that desperation!
    Let me know how you get on too…

    Reply
  48. Amelia Loftus

    November 8, 2012 at 9:56 pm

    Love this post! I am a home brewer and have been experimenting with this for the past week. I am having trouble filtering the yeast. It just gums up the works and nothing strains out. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  49. theundergroundrestaurant

    December 14, 2012 at 11:54 am

    Amelia: hmm not sure. I need to have another go myself.
    At the moment however I'm buying trying to recreate hobbit food such as elven bread.

    Reply
  50. Unknown

    February 12, 2013 at 5:20 am

    I must give thanks to theundergroundrestaurant for sharing this. I am brewing my first batch of "somethingmite" right now. Maybe I'll call it "davemight." I am new at this but not at brewing!
    My only gift to you is this, get a brewers yeast that is either hopless (without hops) or made with light floral hops only and no bittering hops. So a brew made particularly for this recipe will serve you well as far as lowering the bitterness, some of which is needed because it is essential vitamins that make the mite mighty, cheers!

    Reply
  51. Anonymous

    March 19, 2013 at 1:01 am

    Love this post! Stumbled across it randomly all the way from New Zealand where we have just had a year of no Marmite thanks to our Marmite factory being earthquake damaged – Marmageddon its been called. The whole country is counting down till it goes back on sale in a week or so.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 5, 2013 at 2:36 pm

      I feel for you guys… I hope you are all back up and running again, on the breakfast front at least…

      Reply
  52. Anonymous

    May 7, 2013 at 5:59 am

    Amazing! My 9-year-old daughter has been an avid Marmite junkie since she started eating solid foods. She asked me this morning at breakfast (while having her Marmite-toast) if we couldn't make Marmite at home. Hence the google-search. Before reading your piece, I was sure it was a highly processed food (pretending to be traditionally derived), and am really delighted to learn that it is related to "real" foods.
    I am a farmer and grow my own mustard. We regularly make our own mustard paste with honey, salt and pepper. It is really sharp and great for cooking.

    Reply
  53. Anonymous

    May 7, 2013 at 6:00 am

    Oh, and perhaps I should've mentioned that I am a Pakistani woman (mother of the 9-year-old Marmite lover).

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 5, 2013 at 2:37 pm

      Lovely to hear from you…are you a farmer in Pakistan? Have you made your own mustard?

      Reply
  54. kmewis

    July 18, 2013 at 7:36 pm

    I work in a microbiology lab in Canada and know a number of brewers who can give me yeast (or I can grow my own!). My first step was to spin it down in a centrifuge, decant the beer and re-suspend in water. The hops pelleted with the yeast, I did my best to remove it but there was still some hoppy scent to it.

    I'm in the reducing step right now (laboratory vacuum over for reducing, yay!) but when I first read it, I was under the impression I would mash in the cooked vegetables. I might go with some vegetable stock instead of making my own and see how it turns out. Being in a lab also means I can add my own B-vitamins after the fact to make it super healthy 🙂

    This post was definitely very helpful, thank you! I will be back to let you know how it turns out in a week or so. I'm hoping for it to be more like Vegemite personally, but Marmite is good too 🙂

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 18, 2013 at 8:09 pm

      Cool! Yes you can do it with vegetable stock too. Yes they use a centrifuge at the marmite factory. What do you mean by 'pelleted'? the hops became pellets with the yeast?
      Please let me know how you get on and thanks so much for the comment.

      Reply
  55. Silviu

    August 20, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    I'm a new convert to Marmite. I was born in Romania and live in the USA, so I had no exposure to it until well into my adult age. But I am a food lover and I will try anything… so I did, and loved it. I am also a biochemist by profession, a cook and a homebrewer by passion. Marmite is available here, but not easily, and when you find some it can be expensive ($8 for a 4oz jar).

    So I set to make my own, from curiosity. I always like to experiment.

    I started with Mark de San Marcos' recipe above and changed it as follows:
    1 tbsp turbinado sugar instead of Panela
    1 tbsp red miso (I make my own; alternately you can use aged red miso that you find at stores like Whole Foods)
    2 tbsp yeast flakes (also from Whole foods)
    3 tbsp dry baking yeast (the kind you can get at Costco in 1-lb packets)
    1 tbsp Vegeta instead of vegetable stock powder (Vegeta is a Polish-made seasoning mix made mostly of dried vegetables; you can find it at ethnic markets)
    2 tbsp soy sauce (the real, brewed kind – not the ones made from hydrolyzed protein – Kikkomans is a good one)
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 cup (240ml) water

    A comment on the soy sauce vs Braggs: Braggs is akin to soy sauce with reduced salt… so why add Braggs and then salt, if you can use straight soy sauce instead? Plus by doing so you can choose a good, traditionally-brewed brand (Braggs is made from hydrolyzed soy)

    I put all of this in a 1-pint jar, mix together and put the jar in a slow cooker set to low. Now, the low on my slow cooker must be different from Mark's, because it was all done in 10 hours or so (if I had left it for 24h I would have ended up with the dried remains of what could have been a Marmite substitute). At the end I mixed it all well together, and simply put a lid on the jar I cooked it in – didn't transfer it to anything else. I turned out very smooth and creamy.

    I'm very happy with the taste I obtained, and will surely make more soon.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      August 21, 2013 at 10:39 pm

      Wow that's cool Silvu, thanks so much for sharing that!

      Reply
  56. Dwayne's Brain

    December 7, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    This is the BEST thread ever! I make several condiments now (ketchup, mustard, chili sauce, etc) using maple syrup and Pple cider. I'm attempting to make my own version of marmite. If it works, I'm cling it VERMONMITE!

    Reply
  57. Cullen Dwyer

    March 28, 2014 at 4:04 am

    I work in the quality lab of a microbrewery. The substances that makes beer bitter are called alpha-acids. They are derived form hops, and as the name implies, they are acidic. The membranes of yeast cells tend to be negatively, charged, and attract acidic substances. In fact, anywhere from 10% to 40% of the alpha acids in beer before fermentation end up sticking to the yeast cells, and get pulled out of the beer at the end of fermentation when the yeast settles out. Washing the yeast several times with water should remove most of the bitterness, but it sounds like you have tried this and want a better solution. I wonder if washing the yeast with vinegar wouldn't work better. The acetic acid might have a stronger affinity to the negatively-charged yeast cells than the alpha-acids. The alpha acids would therefore be displaced into solution: let it all settle, pour off the standing liquid and the bitter substance with it. Follow with a water wash. Any residual vinegar will get boiled off in the lengthy cooking process. Maybe its a nutty idea, but I'm curious to try it.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      August 1, 2014 at 10:46 am

      hi Cullen, I haven't tried it yet but will when I have time. Thanks for all the scientific info and please let me know if you try the washed yeast version.

      Reply
  58. oliverft

    July 31, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    some aussies tried out your recipe and it didn't turn out too well… http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/diy-marmite-video-4823308

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      August 1, 2014 at 10:43 am

      I think it's unfair that they didn't credit me properly and that they didn't say that I said it was much more bitter in my blog post. Very rude and misleading and that cook's version didn't look like mine.

      Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      August 1, 2014 at 10:45 am

      But thanks for letting me know.

      Reply
  59. Anonymous

    August 15, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    I salute you lady!
    Wow, never heard of anyone trying to make Marmite. As a Yank (of Norwegian descent), but occasional visitor to the UK, I was introduced to Marmite on toast, and over time it's really grown on me. I'll stick to the store bought but wanted to say you really went the distance on this one.
    Enjoying the blog!

    Reply
  60. Anonymous

    January 24, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    Quotes of your text above:
    "The location of the Marmite factory is due to it's proximity ….. "
    "…the hallmark of Marmite lay in it's smoothness…"
    Not being of English mother tongue myself I am always utterly surprised to see that the British do not know the difference between "it's" and "its". Possessive pronoun neutrum 3rd person singular is what, "it's" or "its"? Find out yourself
    And no, not being British I do not like marmite at all, neither from the 7th Day Adventists' factory nor DIY.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      January 24, 2015 at 6:28 pm

      I know, it's pathetic isn't it? My daughter is always having a go at me about that.
      Is Marmite owned by 7th day adventists?

      Reply
  61. Jim

    March 9, 2015 at 10:41 pm

    I like both Bovril and vegemite and am often involved in the arguments over which is better trying to say they are both good. I rarely have Marmite

    Reply
  62. Anonymous

    April 27, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    Thank you thank you thank you for this. I am a lover of both Marmite and DIY, so this is going on the list. I managed to find plenty of Marmite when I was in Thailand, but when I lived in Australia, I had to have the big BIG jars shipped over specially (£15 in postage per jar way back in 2001!) as the local variants were all abysmal substitutes…

    Reply
  63. Accountants London Lady

    December 2, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    I had no clue that half of this stuff was even in Marmite, how very interesting! Thanks so much for sharing, this was very interesting!

    Reply
  64. John the Kiwi

    December 23, 2015 at 3:28 am

    Hi there! I've been looking at your recipe for years and am finally going to give it a go! I have a couple of questions.
    Step 7. How long does this take? Is it obvious when it's finished? What am I watching for?
    And step 9 – again, how long does this take? A few minutes, hours, days?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      December 23, 2015 at 1:43 pm

      Hi john
      Yes for both steps it's pretty obvious because you are looking for a marmite texture. It's really a mature of reducing down the liquid to a concentrate. It's easy to do this on an aga as its on all the time. The main problem with this recipe is the bitter notes which you must remove from the yeast.
      Do let me know how you get on

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      October 16, 2016 at 9:02 am

      your could ask a frendly homebrewer to add hops say in the form of a hop tea and or a small bittering boil with priming sugar into the bottling bucket. the yeast in the original fermentation bucket will then not have that bitterness.

      Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      November 22, 2016 at 1:24 pm

      interesting idea

      Reply
  65. Barry McCormick

    December 26, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    I baked our christmas ham in Guinness with herbs and spices for 7 hours and the result was a marmite like residue. Separated the fat filtered and reduced to the correct consistency.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      November 22, 2016 at 1:25 pm

      perhaps more bovril like? but a porcine version?

      Reply
  66. Shivan Bhavnani

    November 22, 2016 at 5:46 am

    Has anyone tried the vinegar wash?

    I am dedicating 5 weeks to trying to make a perfect imitation of English marmite. I really appreciate this recipe.

    What changes to the original recipe makes it taste closer to English marmite?

    Reply
  67. Shivan Bhavnani

    November 22, 2016 at 5:47 am

    What changes to this recipe will make it taste closer to the original English marmite?

    Washing the yeast seems helpful. Has anyone tried the vinegar wash?

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      November 22, 2016 at 1:24 pm

      I recently made it again. Worked very well in the vitamix then straining but I didn't do the wash.
      Tell me about the vinegar wash idea?

      Reply
  68. Anonymous

    December 4, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    Hello and well done! I shall be giving this a try maybe using my bread dough culture? (No idea here were I'd find a brewery although vineyards are a go go and Marmite did use champagne be fermentation for a valentines didn't they)?
    I've just finished (4 days) making my own Heinz 57 Hot Tomato Ketchup from rosehips. 2kg rosehips for 2,5 litres of sauce. Taste, consistency the same.
    Colour is slightly orangey-red but only noticeable when comparing with original. I have wood burner in kitchen and wouldn't attempt otherwise. As well as avoiding chemicals, plastics, etc, I don't like wasting energy/carbon footprint…
    I didn't fill jars to top as I'll keep them in freezer. Too afraid to just leave bottled. I read it couldn't be frozen (separates) but I've had no problem.
    In addition to hips, 200ml water, 200 ml white vinegar, salt I big but hot chilli with seeds and 90g sugar. Left on the stove overnight, strain in AM. Added more water to remains, left all day, strained more water to left overs. Three batches together and just left to evaporate to correct consistency,

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      April 24, 2017 at 9:12 am

      sounds gorgeous

      Reply
  69. gbsk

    April 23, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    Would this work using nutritional yeast instead of brewers yeast? I would think that it would not be a s bitter as brewer's yeast.

    Reply
  70. Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

    April 24, 2017 at 9:17 am

    gbsk: I don't think it'd work with nutritional yeast. Maybe if you soaked it in hot water and turned it into a liquid?

    Reply
  71. Glaucus

    April 30, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    I want a Marmite Sauce with the constituency of Tomato Ketchup. Diluting does not seem to work very well.

    Reply
  72. Anonymous

    May 27, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    Thanks for a wonderful article!
    So… what's a "aga"?
    Is it like an American "crockpot" (electric slow cooking ceramic pot)?
    Or is it like some other slow cooking device?
    Cheers!

    Reply
  73. ursula

    July 31, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    Yum—-uMMY. Neat.

    Reply
  74. Anonymous

    August 1, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    Great ! But where do you find Brewer's yeast ?

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      August 3, 2017 at 11:02 am

      Go to a local brewer and ask! they usually want to get rid of it. Take a plastic container.

      Reply
  75. Rafikiza

    September 8, 2017 at 11:22 am

    I wish I had the recipe during the years 2011 to 2015 that we spent in Argentina. Totally unknown there. As a South African, I had to get Saffer and Brit friends to bring it in! My Marmite was almost confiscated in Santiago, Chile; as they thought the XRay machine had shown it to be a bottle of honey (yip, I take it with me!).

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      November 15, 2017 at 6:00 pm

      haha it's strong stuff alright.

      Reply
  76. Anonymous

    November 15, 2017 at 1:54 pm

    just made 2 gallons wine from cheap grapes from a London market, making vinegar with the remaining liquid, and now I've got the sludge reayd to try this recipe with. Wino-mite? anybody ever heard of this getting done, no hops to worry about…thinking it might be like a Tartex spread or something?

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      November 15, 2017 at 6:00 pm

      winomite? hilarious 🙂

      Reply
  77. qq

    January 2, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    "baker's yeast is too cloudy, while brewers yeast will eventually separate"

    What you're talking about here are the inter-related topics of dropping and flocculation, although brewers tend to talk about them interchangeably so if you ask a brewer for some yeast that "floccs well" you'll get the sort you want. Obviously it's a subject of enormous interest to brewers and publicans so all brewing yeast strains are well characterised in this regard. In particular pubs want the yeast in cask ale to drop quickly so that they can serve it quickly, and traditional British cask strains are generally the best in this regard. The Fuller's yeast is famous among homebrewers for how quickly it drops, a version of it is available as Wyeast 1968 or White Labs WLP002. The clean strains responsible for many US-style hoppy beers tend not to drop so quickly. With US-style beers you also have the problem that they tend to be generously dry-hopped, which means you will have a lot more hops in the fermenting vessel and hence ending up with the yeast. Traditional British beers generally have little or no dry hops.

    So ideally you want to get your yeast from a brewery making cask ale in traditional British styles. It looks like Redemption use a trad British yeast (so it should drop quickly) but their website talks a lot about "generous late hopping" which sounds like their waste yeast will have a lot of hop waste in it. You could ask them which of their beers has the least dry hopping, and arrange to get yeast from that batch.

    For those asking about AGAs – they're a traditional kind of cast-iron, always-on, range cooker. But like Teslas and Macs they're not so much a consumer item as the badge of a cult…

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      May 17, 2018 at 4:17 pm

      I love how an Aga cooks. But yeah I'm part of the cult.

      Reply
  78. A Stonemason

    February 16, 2018 at 2:56 am

    Just what I've been searching for. I do prefer Tescos yeast extract to Marmite by~the~way. There is a difference! Any idea where the Nicotinic Acid, Thiamin, Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 come from?
    Thank you for the article Kerstin.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      March 1, 2018 at 1:49 pm

      Hi I guess they add it in. Ooh no, I don't do own brand unless desperate.
      Thanks Stonemason. (My great grandad was a stonemason, he built a war memorial in Lambeth. He stipulated in his will that his veins be cut open to check he was dead as he's seen so many live people buried through his job as a stonemason for tomb stones.)

      Reply
  79. Anonymous

    February 27, 2018 at 9:19 am

    i too take photos of myself with marmite on my head after 7 bottles of wine

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      March 1, 2018 at 1:49 pm

      🙂

      Reply
  80. gbsk

    March 1, 2018 at 10:33 am

    I went to a brewerand he filled up my jar. He said it was spent grains. Is that different from brewer's yeast? Can it still be used to make Marmite? Thanks

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      March 1, 2018 at 1:47 pm

      I honestly don't know. I got a cloudy liquid from the brewers.

      Reply
  81. Anonymous

    May 1, 2018 at 4:32 pm

    Spent grains would be from the mash. It's before they add yeast. It won't work.

    Reply
  82. GB

    May 17, 2018 at 1:59 am

    I got the brewer's yeast about a month ago. How long can you use it after it is made? It smells a little funny. Thanks

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      May 17, 2018 at 4:16 pm

      Hmm if it's liquid then I'd use it quickly.

      Reply
  83. Brother A

    June 24, 2018 at 11:59 am

    I loved this. I'm a home brewer. I just brewed home brew beer batch 40, which is a stout. I love Marmite and hope to use this recipe. I prepared the beer in a way that kept the hops separate so that they wouldn't mix with the yeast and bitter them.
    Another modification is that I'm washing the yeast with isotonic water, so as not to kill the yeast during the washing process. The way I'm doing this is by using 9g of table salt per liter to add to the yeast for washing. Then, when I am ready to heat the yeasts to form the extract, I'll add significant amounts of salt to start the cell lysis process.

    Reply
  84. Madame S

    February 25, 2019 at 11:29 pm

    Hello all Marmite lovers the blog over. My friend and I thought we had cornered the home-made Marmite recipe at Thanksgiving feast time in 2009. We put the carrots, parsnips, ruttabaga and many yellow onions to roast under a light olive oil and herb rub, at 350 degreesF, then went to play in her garden, or went for a walk, or somesuch distracting thing and came back, 40 minutes, or so, later! All was a dark and pungent mass, not burned as such, just very richly browned! The lot reeked of Marmite! We shrieked with joy while blending up the brown sticky mass.

    No joy! Not quite! Aha, we both recalled wartime England and rationing! Brewrs yeast we yelled together! Lacking that vegan (?) condiment, we threw in 2 Tbsp bread yeast! Still not quite the taste nor consistency desired!

    I have since worked at the recipe with increasingly tastier results! I now still overcook the vegetables in the prescribed manner, blend the lot with 4 tbsp of Tbsps debittered brewer’s yeast, one of bread making yeast, and cook the resulting mash all night in a jar under my Joule bath. The recipe lacks the saltiness of true Marmite; but I must avoid salt! Maybe a bit of Braggs could help; however, I am going to try celery stalks in the roasting vegetable phase first!

    Then, I will try including a liquid yeast reduction from a liter of brewer’s yeast which I hope to score at the micro brewery folk here in Whitehorse, Yukon.

    Reply
    • msmarmitelover

      February 26, 2019 at 11:13 am

      This is great! So wonderful to hear your progress. Still I do think salt is very important in Marmite and I also think good sea salt is good for your health. It has so many essential minerals. I know the health police have been critisizing salt for the last couple of decades but only 8% of the population is sensitive to salt. Salt has virtually no effect on blood pressure either.

      Reply
  85. Zen

    May 1, 2019 at 8:07 pm

    Years and years ago, I would brew a fair bit. My specialty was mead, so I ended up with a ton of brewer’s yeast (champagne varieties, often enough).
    I knew that salt made yeast cell shed their tough husks, thus achieving much of the taste and consistency of Marmite.
    I don’t really recall my exact production method, but I thought I’d mention that leftover yeast from mead production works well.

    Reply
  86. Anja

    May 20, 2019 at 2:30 pm

    Easier en cheaper to buy a jar.

    Reply
  87. Marka

    April 14, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    I am a little confused about getting a litre of brewers yeast. I only know yeast in a solid form. I purchased some brewers yeast online and it is also a powder. How much powdered yeast would I need to use to prepare a litre?

    Many thanks

    Reply
    • msmarmitelover

      April 14, 2020 at 8:47 pm

      You need to go to a local brewery and get some of the yeast fermentation from them

      Reply
      • Marka

        April 15, 2020 at 2:27 pm

        Cannot I not mix some of the beer yeast I have with water and leave to ferment? How much would I put in a litre of water if it is an option? Thank you.

        Reply
        • msmarmitelover

          April 15, 2020 at 3:53 pm

          This is what I did. But give it a go, why not? It’s worth a try.

          Reply
  88. Martha Bakry

    April 23, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    ‘‘Twas an episode of Taskmaster that led me here. The task was to “make Marmite,” and I realized that, faced with a task like that, I’d have no idea what to “make”it out of. The only thing I definitely knew was brewer’s yeast, but beyond that, no clue. Incidentally, I believe they were given 20 minutes.

    Reply
  89. Garth Weymont

    July 1, 2020 at 6:45 pm

    Please, please help a 76 year old who has driven everyone in the house mad for three days attempting to make home made marmite. (I see you are the prime ‘home marmite’ source. Every recipe on the internet is really yours. Mine tasts and smells awful. I thought I had followed all the steps correctly, but the word ‘separates’ now jumps out at me. I filtered mine and it produced a lovely looking light brown creamy affair – but there was no ‘separation’. and your step 5 indicates aprevious seperation?) The final reduced product was darkish brown and marmite consistency – but oh dear, it did not have the marmite taste! I see from your website you are a dynamic professional, dashing from one assignment – but I think you’re actually a big softie.. If you have a minute please advise an old geezer so that when he is really old he can say, ‘I once made my own marmite in the lockdown of 2020. It tasted nearly as good as the real thing!’

    Reply
    • msmarmitelover

      July 2, 2020 at 2:12 pm

      You got me. I am the biggest softie.Sounds like you did everything right but I have to say, the taste is far more bitter, hence the suggestion in the comments to ‘wash’ the yeast to try and get rid of the bitterness. One of these days I’ll have another go Garth.

      Reply
  90. dianathepiana

    October 22, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    Only one jar of ‘Our Mate’ (British Marmite is distributed in Australia under this name as the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing company baggsed ‘Marmite’ for its own Southern Hemisphere spread many years ago) left in our store cupboard at Wollongong, New South Wales. British-born husband starting to fret. Coles supermarkets no longer have trays of Our Mate next to the Branston Pickles in the ‘Foreign’ aisle. There’s a yeast shortage because of all the furious COVID-isolation-inspired bread-making I guess. Wonderful to find this site. Ten days long and quite complicated. My kind of task. But this will have to wait until I have completed my elaborate floral bathing cap decorated with brightly coloured scrunched-up mesh produce bags imitating flowers for Melbourne Cup Day at the local ocean pool, home of the Bathing Beauties group, aged between 52 and 96. We swim at 6 am.

    Reply
    • msmarmitelover

      October 26, 2020 at 4:02 pm

      I want to see that bathing cap Diana.

      Reply
  91. Jennifer Olson

    November 27, 2020 at 6:16 am

    I have been making my own sugar shine for hand sanitizers since Covid 19 pandemic began here in North America. The leftover yeast and distillate were a great base for creating this recipe, LOL. I think I made it like I enjoy. I cannot quit tasting the spoon as it thickens. Tomorrow is the toast test! Thanks so much for your insight and recipe for a great starter to a delicious DIY yeast spread.

    Reply
  92. Joe

    December 10, 2020 at 2:40 pm

    Do you have a quantity of marmite that this recipe will yield?
    Looking for ways to create things that are relatively zero waste, and since there is a brewery over the road this makes a lot of sence. Plus it tastes amazing.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • msmarmitelover

      December 10, 2020 at 3:07 pm

      Probably about 200ml

      Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed t Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed the top of these toile de jouey curtains in my summer house shed. The days are lengthening a little which brightens up my mood. Self care= trying to get up and washed. Trying to leave the house once a day. Keeping my hands busy. Finding small ways to be creative. #coronaloner #sewingmachine #curtains #shedsofinstagram #sheshed #springiscoming #supperclub #stayingsane #selfcare #lockdown3
Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I get up later and later every day. I’m living in a twilight world- dim skies, getting nothing done. Next week it’s my birthday and every year I’m at my lowest ebb just before my birthday. Lockdown on your own is tough. My motivation, my mojo has disappeared. #lockdown3 #coronaloner #pastadinner #nofilter #january2021 #januarychallenge #selfemployedwomen #single #aquarius #0degrees
On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronal On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronaloner
Tonight’s lockdown dinner with my bubble. Proper Tonight’s lockdown dinner with my bubble. Proper pesto alla genovese with trofie, small boiled salad potatoes, steamed green beans (good tip: steam the beans in a colander plopped on top of the potatoes or pasta), good quality pesto sauce ( mine from local microbakery @seansloaf ), good olive oil (@pomoragoodfood), torn fresh basil, a few pine nuts. This turns this student dish into a balanced meal of carbs, veg and a little protein.  It’s cold outside, I’ve lit the fire. Covid rages in Kilburn high road in north west london. The rate is 1 in 30 london wide but I feel it’s higher in this poor inner london area. We have a high BAME population who are particularly vulnerable. It’s a little bit anarchic on my high street: cars perched on kerbs waiting for hijabi women, braving pound shops and Aldi . We are all covered up now. In winter masks keep your face warm, but you have a choice between safety and being able to see. I’ve not managed to prevent the inevitable steaming up of my glasses when wearing a mask. Nothing works.  #january #londonwinter #pestopasta #pestoallagenovese #vegetarian #pasta #trofie #supperclub #covid_19 #lockdownlife #lockdown3 #bubblegang
Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
Serve with rice or noodles, garnishing with spring onions or chives and or coriander leaves.  #veganuary #mapotofu #sichuanfood #tofu  #shitakemushrooms #supperclub #londonchef #msmarmitelover #ham&highcolumn #eatplants #lockdown3 #selfisolation #coronaloner #cooking #recipe #cookingfromscratch
Macaroni cheese with odds and sods from the Christ Macaroni cheese with odds and sods from the Christmas leftover cheese board. I’ve used @paxtonscheese truffled brillat-savarin and a mystery hard cheese that’s lost its label. Plus cream and topped it with samphire fried in butter. Haven’t bothered with making a roux- this is the lockdown lazy version.  #lockdownlazy #lockdown3 #supperclub #macandcheese #macaronicheese #truffledcheese #leftovers #leftovercheeseboard #londonlockdown #breakfast #coronaloner
Another thing the Japanese are brilliant at is san Another thing the Japanese are brilliant at is sandwiches. They use the softest, whitest, fluffiest bread. Their mayonnaise kewpie is gorgeous I don’t know why. Perhaps someone here can explain? Here I’ve used sourdough as it’s what I have; kosho which is a Yuzu citrus and green chilli condiment and the aforesaid kewpie Mayo to make an egg 🥚 sandwich.  I’m not a big egg fan but I suddenly had the urge. Also I’ve noticed when I eat eggs it satiates my hunger for hours. All that protein.  #sandwich #sandwiches #japanesesandwich #kewpiemayo #kosho #eggsandwich #sourdough #supperclub #cookingforone #solo #londonlife #lockdownlondon #recipe #snack #sundaysnack #sando
Agedashi tofu for New Year’s Day. With a vegan d Agedashi tofu for New Year’s Day. With a vegan dashi stock, it’s perfect for veganuary. How to make dashi: put a piece of kombu seaweed in water. Soak for half an hour then simmer for half an hour (don’t let it boil). Then mix 2 cups of dashi with 2 tbsps of mirin and 2 of soy sauce.  For the tofu: press soft tofu with weights for half an hour, then cut into cubes. Dust all over with cornflour.  Then deep fry the tofu cubes in 180C veg oil until they float. Set aside to drain, then place say 3 cubes in small bowl. Pour the sauce around and top with spring onion and daikon and togarashi 7 spice.  #easypeasyvegan #veganuary #agedashitofu #tofu #japaneseveganrecipe #newyearsday #freshstart #supperclub #londonsupperclub #msmarmitelover #visforvegan #recipe
Writing about tofu which I think has an unfair rep Writing about tofu which I think has an unfair reputation in this country. It’s so flexible and is a brilliant flavour sponge. Here I’m preparing my soft tofu for a Japanese dish: agedashi tofu. I first pressed it in a clean tea towel with a weight on top to firm it up a bit but not too much. Then I dusted it with cornflour and I will deep fry it in oil. Then I will serve it in a broth of dashi/mirin and tamari sauce, sprinkled with finely chopped spring onions and togarashi pepper from Japan. I would usually add some finely mandolined daikon radish but couldn’t find any. It’s a subtle dish of texture: soft yet crispy. After Christmas I’m desperate for light zingy fresh flavoured food. #supperclub #tofu #vegan #vegetarian #agedashitofu #newyearsday #cookingagain #lunch #asian #japanesefood
Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holdi Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holding on...
#happynewyear #happynewyear2021 #supperclub #hootenanny
Some of my Christmas food 🥘 lots of veg includi Some of my Christmas food 🥘 lots of veg including mashed swede with cheese and butter. I put pomegranate seeds with my sprouts, and cooked my carrots in marmalade ( worked v well), the mushroom wreath fell apart as I was transferring it to a tray 😤, roast potatoes and parsnips, then a cheese spread with fruit nuts, quince cheese (homemade), Chocs @lindtuk 😍 @guylian_uk @disaronno_official @baileysofficial @taylorsportwine and Brazil nuts. Plus a pavlova wreath ready to be topped with whipped cream and persimmons. 
#christmasdinner #vegetarianchristmas #vegetarianchristmasdinner #supperclub #londonchristmas #liqueurs #christmasspread #grazing #cheeseboard #port #pavlova
Christmas has started! Home-cured smoked beetroot Christmas has started!  Home-cured smoked beetroot and aquavit salmon with homemade blinis, creme fraiche, dill, Prosecco.  The fire is lit 🔥, the tree is up, 🎄the presents 🎁 are wrapped, we have a #brexit deal- a Christmas miracle. Peace and harmony. #christmas #christmasinengland #homemade #christmaseve #blinis #smokedsalmon #prosecco🍾 #londonchristmas
Done some doorscaping, the latest trend in Christm Done some doorscaping, the latest trend in Christmas decorating. It might also cheer up passersby. #christmas #christmasdecor #doorscaping #doorsofinstagram #londonchristmas #doorwreath #doordecor #doorsoftheworld #doordecoration #exteriors #london #supperclub #covidchristmas
Look at my gorgeous Nordic pine Christmas tree 🎄 from @pinesandneedles with some family ornaments and beautiful foodie ornaments from @gisela_graham  it’s 7 foot high and no drop. My parents brought over the candle lights. I’ve also used paper ornaments (apples and pears cut from maps) from @dionne_leonard which I first commissioned for a supper club.  #christmas #christmastree #christmasdecor #foodiedecorations #glassbaubles #supperclub #christmasinlondon
More #fbmarketplacefinds I find meeting the seller More #fbmarketplacefinds I find meeting the sellers interesting. It’s often about moving on whether through death, a change of circumstances, moving country, loss of a job. Today I visited a gorgeously renovated Edwardian house where the owners, an antique dealer & a master decorator had died with 18 months of each other of cancer.  The sister was there emptying the house, an incredibly painful experience. The husband who died was an expert in putting up lincrusta wallpaper which I’ve pictured here. All that craftsmanship and knowledge lost now.  The piece I got on Sunday, the teal chinoiserie cabinet, was from a Spanish guy returning to Spain. He’d lost his job as a hotel manager, the hotel, a big one, has now closed. The marble coffee table and arepas grill was from a Spanish couple who’d had a restaurant here for 40 years. They are now returning to Spain. Other slides: green Edwardian fireplace tiles, William Morris wallpaper, 2 small scalloped coffee tables, a knife and fork cutlery hook set.  A fireplace for my bedroom if I can find someone to put it in. #lockdownstories #covidstories #movingon #decor #interiors #bargains #secondhandstyle #edwardianstyle #williammorris #tiles #wallpaper #scallopededge #teal #chinoiserie #whitemarble #vintage #kitchenalia #supperclubrefurb #london #lincrustawallpaper
Another #fbmarketplace find £30. I can’t afford Another #fbmarketplace find £30. I can’t afford proper chinoiserie so I make do with fakes. The gradual doing up of my flat proceeds apace. Need to start on main bedroom. Looking for a storage ottoman (velvet?) bench to turn into a horizontal filing cabinet.  Any ideas? Above is a map of london based on the A to Z map which a minicab office was tossing out. Remember when we all carried mini A to Z books in our handbags? Before google maps? #nocrushedvelvet #chinoiserie #supperclubrefurb #londonapartment #londonflat #norfweezy #decor #organising #storage #interiors
My new/old rise and fall light over the dining tab My new/old rise and fall light over the dining table. Found for £50 on #fbmarketplace  but originally from @thefrenchhouse.net_ one of my favourite shops. Every day, a little more progress. #supperclubrefurb #supperclub #londonflat #interiors #lighting #riseandfalllights #lightingisimportant #frenchstyle #vintagestyle #rusticstyle #turquoise #diningtabledecor
Two vegetarian meal kits, laksa and ramen, from @k Two vegetarian meal kits, laksa and ramen, from @kit.eats.uk. Took only a couple of minutes to cook(see stories) and very good. I’m trying a few meal kits of late to see how hospitality has adapted to the great reset. As a cook I’ve always thought why would I need these but now I get it: it’s like going to a restaurant- the pleasure of food prepared by someone else. Getting jolted off of your normal repertoire, so it’s teaching cooking too.  #mealkits #vegetarian #homecooked #hospitality #covid #takeawayfood #foodpackaging #laksa #ramen #supperclubchef
Still working on my glass cupboard. I’ve hung up Still working on my glass cupboard. I’ve hung up all my wine bottle openers and cork screws. My favourite is the zigzag bottom left. If you find them at a flea market in France, if you are lucky you may get it for around 35 euros.  #supperclub #londonflat #londoninteriors #corkscrews #frenchkitchenalia #zigzag #tirebouchon #oakcupboard #diy #diyprojects
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