Last weekend, I decided to hop on my bike and, as I arrived in a neighbouring village, I noticed the local flea market; lots of people around and loads of interesting-looking little stands. I love flea markets; you can find true little treasures, if you take your time. And this time, that’s precisely what happened!
After a good half hour of meandering from stand to stand, I noticed a friendly looking bookseller, wearing heavy-rimmed glasses and smoking a pipe, as if he’d been cherry-picked out of some 1950s French film. I’d never seen him at any other flea market… My eye is immediately drawn to a box full of very old books. As I’m browsing through them, I pick out the most imposing one; it’s titled The Marmite’s Travel Log. Strange title, right?
I open it up and, as of the first pages, I’m gripped and my heart starts beating just a little faster. I’d just found a graphic design gem: hundreds of pages filled with text, old pictures, drawings and hand-written annotations. There are even a number of old postcards stuck on certain pages. It’s mind blowing! On closer inspection, this isn’t even a printed book, it’s entirely hand-written! It is, in fact, some world traveler’s logbook. I come across pages about India, Japan…
I ask the bookseller if he happens to know where this book came from but, he replies that he has no idea whatsoever and that it costs 60 euros… I don’t even consider haggling, buy it, hop back onto my bike and head home.
The Marmite’s Travel Log is, in fact, a travel log (as the title indicates, of course) written between 1889 and 1921 by Mr. and Mrs. Marmite. They meticulously describe their travels; for each country they report on their encounters, the places they visit but, they also meticulously record recipes, including the ingredients and the necessary steps for preparation… The most astonishing thing, however, is that I discovered that Mr. and Mrs. Marmite were actually vegans! The word itself is never mentioned but they do frequently comment on how it’s "nigh impossible to find dishes without animal ingredients". They do, however, also regularly express their joy at meeting people "who hardly ever eat animals". Quite incredible! I truly have discovered a gem, a unique piece of writing but, above all else, a dozen or so recipes from all over the world!
I will, of course, be trying every single one of them! I will catch you later and return to my precious book; currently Mr. and Mrs. Marmite are just about to leave the kingdom of Hungary… it’s 1889.
So, I started reading "The Marmite’s Travel Log" and it’s quite mind-blowing! Mr & Mrs Marmite were, in fact, Adelbert and Julia Marmite; they were...
