Marmite

[beenee]

I love it - why? Don't the rules of evolution/selection say that we are averse to foods that are bitter/ill tasting?

[Quizmonster]

If that were really true, Beenee, the world's breweries would be out of business, we wouldn't put vinegar on our fish'n'chips and having chutney with your curry would be a no-no! Happily, none of these things is so, so go on enjoying your Marmite, as I fully intend to do.

[BadBob]

I just can't get enough of the stuff.

[incitatus]

vinegar is not bitter, qm, and nor is marmite...it tastes strong and salty, but not bitter. As to why we like it, it goes into the same atractant status as red meat. P.S. theres another reason why men particularly like vinegar and pickles. or so a biochemist once alleged to me. At the time of ovulation there is an increase in the acetic acid (vinegar) content of vaginal mucus, and this may be a mating cue for males.

[Quizmonster]

You may notice, I, that the questioner did not list only bitterness, but included ill-tasting. I chose to include vinegar and chutney within the latter, not the former. I did not do that, you understand, because I myself consider these ill-tasting, but because I felt they came within the parameters of what Beenee was getting at. I'm well aware of the differences among the four basic tastes humans experience. Cheers

[incitatus]

forgive me qm. i didnt mean to impune your vocabulary. interesting about vinegar tho, huh? Its the mineral content of marmite, someone has just whispered in my ear......like cows and salt licks we are drawn to electrolyte sources.

[Quizmonster]

The odd thing is, I - given what you say in your two responses above - why do so many people hate Marmite? Even their own TV ads are based on the fact that many find their product repulsive!

[beenee]

Carry on gentlemen, this is interesting...

[Hippy]

I hate Marmite and vineagar, and incitatus' mating cue to me is repugnant beyond compare. I think we evolved to avoid bitter stuff to prevent poisoning, but the Marmite vineagar is surely an acquired taste and has something to do with tastes encountered as tiny tots.

[incitatus]

different people do taste things differently. so what is pleasant to some is unpleasant to others. bitter tastes are linked to poisons, true. but how do you explain my liking for marmite if it is an acquired taste? there was never any in the house when i was young, as all my family hate it. one taste at uni and i was hooked. There is a tenedency to believe that because we dont like something it must be disgusting, and anyone who eats it has to have been trained to do so by lunatics. this really isnt the case though.

[andrea w]

Vinegar is for fools!