Description
Book SynopsisA dynamic collection of 80 accessible recipes that reveal how bitter flavours can add depth and complexity to our cooking, making food incredibly moreish. How well do you really understand bitterness? Often thought of as an acquired taste, bitter flavours add complexity and depth to a dish - making food incredibly moreish - if, you know how to work with them. Fearlessly bringing together the best flavours and culinary strategies from around the world, Alexina will help you befriend bitterness - one flavour-balancing technique at a time. Using ten ingredients to walk you through every type of bitterness and how to tame it - from grapefruit and bitter oranges, bitter greens, tahini, beer, walnuts, cranberries, tea, coffee, cocoa and liquorice - each recipe will expand your repertoire and open the door to new worlds of deliciousness, using bitterness in both savoury and sweet dishes to elevate the taste of everything you make. These 80 recipes include something to suit every taste and occasion. Start with bold breakfasts recipes, like Banoffee Breakfast Bread, Malted Crepes with Lime & Sugar, and Winter Citrus Fruit Salad, then fill your day with light lunches and weeknight dinners like Roasted Aubergines with Whipped Feta, Grapefruit & Hot Honey, Seared Salmon Tacos with Grapefruit & Avocado and Allspice Lamb Chops with Pickled Walnut Ketchup. Then, impress your guests with Ancho Coffee Beef Short Ribs, Duck Confit with Bitter Orange Salsa Verde and Jerk Pork Belly with Grapefruit Hot Sauce, plus decadent desserts such as Negroni Pavlova, Bitter Chocolate Torte with Passionfruit Sauce and Tiramisu Tres Leches cake.
Trade ReviewI may have said this quite a few times, but I feel it bears repeating: bitterness is the most undesirable of attributes, except when it comes to food … My 'bitter tooth' is pronounced …
I gravitated greedily towards Alexina Anatole’s book, Bitter -- Nigella Lawson * Nigella.com *
Bitter by Alexina Anatole is
a gem of a cookbook - not only are the recipes
fresh,
fun and
innovative, but her
well-researched writing on the nature of bitter food
is a pleasure to read - knowledgeable and generous.
I've come away with ideas to enhance my own cooking as well as a stack of recipes to try out for friends and family.
A delightful read. -- Rukmini Iyer * author of the Roasting Tin series and India Express *
A detailed deepdive into the wondrous world of one of the trickiest flavour profiles.
Stunning and inventive recipes inspired by cuisines from around the world to make you fall in love with bitter! -- Ixta Belfrage * author of Mezcla *
So much more than just a cookery book,
Bitter is a revelation. Alexina skillfully takes you on a journey through the world of 'bitter', exploring its place in the sphere of flavour, and
arming you with tricks and hacks on how to use bitter foods in your everyday cooking.
Her recipes are a delight - beautiful, vibrant and packed with exciting, unexpected combinations I can't wait to try. -- Dominique Woolf * author of Dominique's Kitchen *
The cover is
beautiful, the photography is
gorgeous and it's
accessible. She makes bitter into a
really gorgeous topic and
lovely recipes. -- Georgina Hayden * Sunday Brunch *
In this delightful book, MasterChef runner-up Alexina Anatole takes 10 ingredients - bitter oranges, beer, walnuts, cranberries, cocoa and coffee among them - and 'walks you through every type of bitterness and how to tame it'.
The recipes are varied and compelling - chicory, roquefort and walnut salad, and coffee and Biscoff no-bake cheesecake
jumped off the pages at me - but
above all, the pleasure here is in embracing bitter flavours and using them to elevate, balance and bring pleasure across a dish. -- Mark Diacono * Delicious Magazine *
What I love about Alexina’s approach to recipes and cooking is her thoroughness ... Her debut cookbook, Bitter ... is j
ust the most divine book that celebrates the wonder of bitter flavours and how to use them.
I have spoken often in here about the need for balance in cooking and one of the best ways to achieve it is by harnessing bitterness. It offers so much dimension and sophistication to recipes and this is evident in every single one of Alexina’s. -- Rosie Mackean * The Dinner Party substack *
I welcome Alexina Anatole’s debut book ‘Bitter’ with open arms ... In her debut, Alexina aims to show us all that there’s nothing to fear and so much to gain from bitterness. There are many bitter ingredients we don’t tarnish with the fear brush in the kitchen - coffee, tea and cocoa all have bitter profiles that don’t make us panic. Yet, I’ll admit I still have some residual anxiety around bitterness. If you feel similarly, I’m thrilled to tell you that
Alexina is a competent and soothing guide. -- Nicola Lamb * Kitchen Projects *
From grapefruit to walnuts and cocoa to liquorice, this
sumptuous cookbook from the 2021 Masterchef finalist is
the definitive guide to how to get the most out of
beautiful culinary bitterness. -- Mark Skinner * Waterstones *
Absolutely glorious -- Ashley Jensen * Saturday Kitchen *
Alexina's ability to take very strong, bitter, sharp flavours and
marry them together with majesty is
incredible -- John Torode * MasterChef *
Alexina
really impresses me with her
originality -- Gregg Wallace * MasterChef *
Extremely accomplished -- Jay Rayner * MasterChef *
Tremendous -- Vivek Singh * Saturday Kitchen *
A cracking book… marvellous -- Olly Smith * Saturday Kitchen *
An excitingly original book * Daily Mail, *Books of the Year* *
