h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There's an industrial catering ingredient called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or hydrolyzed plant protein. Marmite belongs in this broad category. Its principle attraction is that it mimics the taste of roast meat in vegetable form, but it's also used in a similar manner to monosodium glutamate as an ingredient in virtually anything. Marmite is an ordinary supermarket product (in the UK at least) that can be used in the same way. If you cook, you can try it out for yourself: add tiny amounts (really tiny!) to anything from tomato soup to rhubarb crumble and you'll enrich the flavour without adding a specifically Marmitey tang.

That's why, as other researchers have found, you can add banana or cheese or honey to a Marmite sandwich, in fact more or less anything. I'm particularly fond of strawberry jam.

Hmm, intriguing...

But could it enrich the flavour of, say, custard in a positive way? This is the perfect time of year to find out...

aha, eh-he, hehehahahahahahahahaha!

Brown, salty custard?

At least the colour would blend in nicely with the Christmas pudding and mince pies.

Yes... yes it would...