18 October 2010

Marmite Very Peculiar Milk Chocolate (BHS)



When I first heard about this weird sounding chocolate bar I was remarkably keen to try it. I love Marmite, and its associated branded products usually fill my taste buds with joy. Their cashew nuts are second to none, and who couldn’t like the crisps.
The thing is Marmite has a salty flavour, and both nuts and crisps work well with salty tastes.
I do like the saltiness of peanut butter with chocolate though, so there is hope for this strange bar. The title of the product contains the phrase ‘Very Peculiar’, so I had prepared myself for something a little odd. I opened the box, and the yellow foil wrapper also had the words ‘Very Peculiar’ emblazoned all over it, as a final warning of there being something strange ahead.
I peeled back the foil and smelt the chocolate, which had a very curious aroma, sweet, chocolaty and with the unmistakable smell of Marmite. I stared at the chocolate for a moment, and finally tried a piece. My first thought was that it was just a weird mix of tastes that didn’t go together. I like salt and chocolate together, but mix in that yeasty flavour and the tones of garlic and onion and it no longer tasted right. I ate a few more cubes and all I could think was that there were far nicer varieties of curious chocolate combinations on the market. The flavour isn’t evenly distributed, one of the chunks was quite mild, and one contained very strong garlic. The more I ate the less impressed I became, and I eventually stopped after just four cubes, having given it the best try I could before feeling a little sick.
After around ten minutes of eating the chocolate, my mouth was still filled with garlic and chocolate tastes. The Marmite flavour had gone, but a weird hint of sweetness and savoury onion also lingered. I actually had to brush my teeth. Not good.

5 comments:

Anne said...

My first initial reaction to hearing about this bar was similar to yours.

I was about to pick up one of these bars the other day but found that it didn't actually contain marmite but just some flavours which are supposed to make up marmite flavour and somehow that didn't appeal to me.

Then I also read this review (which also notes the fact that there doesn't seem to be any actual marmite in the bar):
http://www.chocablog.com/reviews/marmite-very-peculiar-milk-chocolate/

So that put me off completely. ;-) Your review now just confirms this! Sorry you had to suffer through this experience of odd tasting chocolate!

However, when going to London I think I will give Paul A. Young's Marmite creation a try!

cinabar said...
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cinabar said...

It is very much the onion and garlic that ruins it, so maybe the Paul Young chocolate is better. I will try and pick some up myself when Im in London next.
Very few chocolate products go unfinished here, but I really couldnt face eating any more if it, it was that bad. Reassuring to read that chocoblog noted the garlic and onion and the unevenly distributed flavour too. If you do try it, should curiosity get the better of you, let me know what you think! ;-)

Rodzilla said...

I need to try marmite by itself before I think about giving the chocolate bar a go. I was really curious when I heard this was coming to your market though. Disappointing to hear it wasn't one of those odd combos that works.

cinabar said...

Rodzilla - it was a weird bar! I do like regular Marmite - have it on toast quite often. Do you have Vegemite or any of the similar products?