There is something gloriously contrary about putting truffle, the most show-off ingredient in the kitchen, into Marmite, the least show-off jar in the cupboard. One is sold by the gram in hushed delicatessens. The other is sold by the tub in every corner shop in the land. In May 2022 they ended up in the same jar.
Marmite Truffle landed on 2 May 2022, a 250g Sainsbury’s exclusive at a recommended £4.50, billed by Unilever as its “most decadent” spread yet. The launch came with the sort of straight-faced grandeur the joke needs, including a horse-drawn carriage wheeled out to deliver the news. Marmite has always understood that the way to sell something silly is to present it with total seriousness.
The taste
Open the jar and the truffle does its thing immediately. That earthy, slightly mushroomy, faintly garlicky aroma is the first thing you get, before the Marmite underneath has said a word. On toast it reads as a richer, rounder version of the original, with the truffle adding a savoury depth that genuinely works with the yeast rather than fighting it. The two are both umami-heavy, so they pull in the same direction.
Where I had a quibble is whether they needed each other at all. Marmite is already one of the most intensely savoury things you can spread on bread. Adding truffle is a bit like adding a second exclamation mark to a sentence that already had one. It is not wrong. It is just not obviously necessary. The version of this I liked best was not on toast but stirred, in a tiny amount, into scrambled eggs or a mushroom risotto, where the truffle note had room to breathe and the dish carried it.
Worth it?
At the time, yes, as a treat and a curiosity. It did well enough that it reappeared on shelves more than once, which tells you the posh gamble paid off. It is a better idea on a special occasion than as your everyday jar, and at four-pound-fifty it was never going to replace the standard tub in the door of the fridge.
Of the brand’s many attempts to dress Marmite up, this was one of the more convincing. It knew it was being ridiculous, did it with a carriage, and still produced something you would happily eat. That is roughly the whole Marmite trick in one jar.
