Bovril

Bovril, formerly a beef extract, now is the trademarked name of a thick, salty yeast extract, sold in a distinctive, bulbous jar.

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A spoonful of the semi-liquid paste in hot water makes a savoury drink. It can also be used as a flavouring for soups, stews or porridge, or spread on bread, especially toast.

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The name, like many late 19th and early 20th century tradenames, comes (partially) from Latin, bos meaning "ox." The vril component of the name comes from Bulwer-Lytton's once-popular 19th century "lost race" novel, The Coming Race, in which a subterranean humanoid race have mental control over, and devastating powers from, an energy fluid named "Vril."

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In November 2004 the manufacturers, Unilever, announced that the composition of Bovril was being changed from beef to a yeast extract, both in the hope of allaying fears of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and to make the product suitable for vegetarians and vegans. According to Unilever, "in blind taste tests 10% didn't notice any difference in taste, 40% preferred the original and 50% preferred the new product."

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It is served at the Groucho Club, and is associated with football culture; commonly being drunk on the terraces from thermos flasks in winter.

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A potential serving suggestion (as seen at football matches) is to shake white pepper and maybe a little cayenne into it before drinking.

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Beef: Beef is meat obtained from a bovine. Beef is one of the principal meats used in European cuisine and cuisine of the Americas, and is important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia as well. In the Middle East, it is very rare to have lunch without beef....

Trademark: A trademark (Commonwealth English: trade mark) is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by a business to identify itself and its products and services to consumers, and to set the business and its products or services apart from those of other businesses. A trademark is a type of intellectua...

Yeast: Yeasts constitute a group of single-celled (unicellular) fungi, a few species of which are commonly used to leaven bread and ferment alcoholic beverages. Most yeasts belong to the division Ascomycota. A few yeasts, such as Candida albicans, can cause infection in humans. More than one thousand speci...