Bitterness has long had an image problem: is it delicious or disgusting? Here’s another contradiction: though bitterness seems as if it should sit alongside hot, pungent flavours such as mustard and horseradish, in reality it cools more than it builds. In Ayurvedic cooking, for instance, bitter ingredients are valued for their ability to refresh and rebalance, and those are qualities that run through both of today’s dishes, from the elegant bitterness of tahini in the panzanella to the clean bite of grapefruit in the dipping sauce for the farinata.
