Visitors don’t always react enthusiastically to this thick, salty, black sandwich spread. Upon trying Vegemite® on toast visitors have been known to screw up their noses and ask how we can eat that stuff. This response has given rise to the expression: a Vegemite®moment – a moment that you absolutely love or absolutely loath. There is no middle ground. That “love it or loath it” response is what gives the moment its name as a Vegemite® moment. And for the unenlightened: Vegemite®is a salty spread that’s both a national institution and a registered brand name. It was invented by food technologist Dr Cyril P Calister in 1922 for the original manufacturer Fred Walker. In WWII it became part of the survival rations of Aussie soldiers, and in 1954 an advertising agency came up with a jingle for the product that put the phrase “we’re happy little Vegemites®” into Aussie English.
