Sami’s Blog: Vegemite

One of the greatest food items in the world is celebrating its 100th birthday. Vegemite is one century! Yes, for ten decades the real black gold has been feeding families and fueling hungry Aussies.

Vegemite draws a primal response from me and makes me feel like I have come home. It comforts my soul and my stomach. I grew up on it. I have been lucky enough to dine in the actual Eiffel Tower. I have slurped plump and salty oysters shucked fresh from the cold waters of Tasmania. And I have feasted on homemade lasagna that took my Mimi 3 days of cooking to prepare the masterpiece. All these meals will forever be in my memory as some of the best of my life and I have a highlights reel from each of them tucked away safely in my brain that I often play in my head. But the best meal of my life by a country mile was in fact Vegemite on toast!

After a few days of labour, my first child finally came into this world after a dramatic birth. I honestly thought I was going to die. At the end of the ordeal where nothing went to plan, my baby girl was finally sleeping in a clear crib near my hospital bed, and I was alone with my thoughts processing the miracle of life and the fact I was now a Mum. It was something I had waited my whole life to be called. It was at that moment my big sister came through the doors with two pieces of toast covered in Vegemite. My legs did not work from all the drugs I had been given and I felt very overwhelmed at the future and yet giddy beyond compare after finally meeting my bundle of joy. My sister handed me the toast and I am pretty sure I cried with happiness. That was the best meal of my life. I had everything I needed right in that room and I had happiness spread on a piece of toast. 

Sometimes it really is the simple things in life that bring you the most feelings of being content. Happy one hundredth birthday to you Vegemite and thanks for the magic you hold in your jar.