Paul A. Young Marmite XO Bar

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on May 21 2010 | Leave A Comment
Paul A. Young Marmite XO Bar

I’ve known this bar was coming for a couple of months and I’ve sat and waited patiently for it to appear. Today it finally arrived, and I think my life may be complete. Yes, this is what happens when you let Paul A. Young loose in a kitchen with a jar of Marmite XO.

You may recall that we tried Paul’s Marmite (non-XO) ganaches when we first visited his Islington shop, and I fell in love with them. The Marmite flavour was quite subtle, and acted a little like the salt in a salted caramel – enhancing the flavour – rather than dominating the chocolate.

Marmite Chocolate

Marmite XO is a different beast though. And what we have is a 64% Madagascan dark chocolate bar, divided into 4 sections, each filled with the stuff. And while there is more chocolate than Marmite in the bar, it’s the strong, salty, fantastical Marmite flavour that wins through.

Paul A. Young Marmite XO Bar

After a few seconds though, that sweet, fruity Madagascan chocolate comes into play and starts to overcome the saltiness. Frankly, it’s a bizarre experience. Eating this simple bar of chocolate makes me stick out my tongue, screw up my face, giggle, then go back in for more. I absolutely love it. This is my new favourite filled chocolate bar.

Of course lesser mortals (read ‘Marmite haters’) will despise it as much as I love it. If you’re one of those weird people that doesn’t like Marmite, then I can only suggest you seek medical attention, because there’s clearly something wrong with you. The only thing that rocks more than Marmite XO is Marmite XO enveloped in delicious Madagascan chocolate.

Paul A. Young Marmite XO Bar

And the best part of all this is that Paul Young is giving away samples – this Saturday 21st May only. All you need to do is get onto Twitter and tweet about them, then pop into his Islington shop on Saturday and demand to be fed.

(While stocks last, I presume. Personally I intend to go back in at least 10 disguises to stock up.)

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Comments On This Post

  1. I am a marmite lover, but frankly just find this concept weird! Still if I lived in London I’d be popping along to Paul’s shop so I could try it for myself.

  2. Simon

    Save one for me SneakyBloke. I’m not sure I’ll like it but I want to try it.

  3. Kladyelf

    Marmite’s a bit like Vegemite isn’t it? so what’s the difference between Marmite and Marmite XO?

  4. So jealous you got to try this first!! Can’t wait to taste it. think I might have to go by for my tweet bar today. 🙂

  5. Dom (Chocablog Staff)

    Kladyelf: The XO stands for ‘eXtra Old’. It’s just like Marmite, only a bit stronger.

    Jennifer: Apparently he’s only giving away samples, not whole bars (boo!). I would have brought some over, but by the time I thought about it, it was all gone. 🙂

  6. The back-story to Paul A. Young’s tangling with Marmite is very interesting. All to do with a dare! It’s in my book: The Mish-Mash Marmite of Dictionary.

  7. austin

    well my dear chap ill have to get some for me blokes back at the pad but i might have to sneak extras past the bobbies

  8. shannon

    Do you know Marmite is an iconic New Zealand spread. The factory that makes it was damaged in the Christchurch February Earthquake so there is none on the supermarket shelves currently. Marmite is gold at the moment…….Chocolate and marmite.. a gold mine….

    • Emily

      Bit later to reply but marmite originated in England. We never had that problem of not being able to get hold of it. It’s an English spread.

      • Maggie Hall

        Emily, what many – possibly including Kiwi Shannon – is that in 1919 Marmite sold the rights to the mighty-M (the name, ingredients, everything bar the shape of the jar) to a New Zealand company. The rights extend to the whole of the South Pacific region. A long time ago they messed around with the ingredients, adding sugar! So it no longer tastes like the real stuff. Fascinating back-story – all revealed in my book: The Mish-Mash Dictionary of Marmite.

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