I'm a big fan of Kitchen Bouquet. The learning process for this wonderful product has been slow, and I don't suppose it's over. I shall expound my current thoughts on the subject presently. Those of you not familiar, may be familiar with it's cousin, Gravymaster, which I cannot speak to at great length. I come from a Kitchen Bouquet family. My mother used to put it on london broil, or other beef, such as hamburgers, to promote browning. When say the meat was broiled, as in a London broil, or fried in a pan, but not put upon a grill. It contributes a most excellent flavour to it.
I believe that Kitchen Bouquet is basically the same thing as Vegemite but thinner. I also think that it is a by-product of brewing beer. My understanding is thus: When the beer has been fermented, it is filtered somehow, and much of the yeast and such is filtered out. Salt, or some such product is added to the yeast which kills it. The enzymes in the yeast commence to breakdown the yeast itself. This process of self-destruction is called autolysis. The resulting concoction has cell walls in it, and these are somehow taken out. What remains is called yeast extract, and it is basically what Kitchen Bouquet is.
Kitchen Bouquet has much of the highly touted umami flavour. It shares flavours and appearance with soy sauce, and I think this must not be a coincidence. What is nice about it is that it is not very salty like soy sauce. Soy sauce is also the result of a fermentation process, I do believe. Why this wonderful thing isn't more popular escapes me. Yeast is in the fungus family. It doesn't surprise that it's a fungus because it does have the earthy flavour of mushrooms in spades, and I think it would go very nicely with them.
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