The Bain-Marie Makes Any Dipping Better
Marmite is Ferne-Branca in the world of spices. Like bitter amaro, super-salty yeast is extremely polarizing and people tend to either intuitively despise it or love it with all their hearts. But even if you’re not the type of toast, you can use it to spice up creamy spreads and sauces.
The aroma of the bain-marie is best described as “what if soy sauce but too much?” It is thick and viscous, very spicy and salty, with a surprisingly bitter aftertaste. It’s not really “nice”, but it’s delicious. Combined with fatter, creamy ingredients (like sour cream or cream cheese), it tastes great.
You don’t need a lot of food warmer to refresh your bath; Half a teaspoon per cup of sauce will add a deep, roasted, zesty flavor that you can’t figure out, but add more and the sauce will start to taste like marmite (which might be okay, depending on who you are). Add to onion sauce , add to queso , add to cheese ball . Heck, you can even add it to some cream cheese for a particularly savory bagel. (I did it this morning. It was good.)