The history of the spread that everyone either loves or hates has been explored in a new book by a former local press reporter.

Maggie Hall first started writing about Marmite back in 1997 but failed to get any publishers interested.

Undeterred, the former Dewsbury Reporter, Yorkshire Evening News and Daily Mirror journalist kept returning to the subject and eventually finished ‘The Mish-Mash Dictionary of Marmite – an anecdotal A to Z of Tar-in-a-Jar’.

In her author’s notes Maggie, who is now based in Washington DC as a freelancer, wrote: “The mere mention of Marmite provokes passionate – and sharply divided – reaction.

“There is no half-hearted response. You’d be hard pressed to be in the company of anyone who doesn’t have a feeling to express, a memory evoked or an anecdote to tell.

“The thought of it, the smell of it, the taste of it, strike physical and mental chords that delve deep back into childhood. But what do most of us know about the black goo? The answer is basically zero.”

Comments

Book reader (04/11/2009 11:13:34)
Nah, don’t like this idea – but others might love it !

Northern Snapper (06/11/2009 00:22:21)
I read an extract from the book.