Sweet, salty, sour, savory and BITTER are the five tastes of food. Do you have a favorite? I bet you would vote for sweet or salty. Sure, sour and savory are delicious too but I say bitter is best.
Bitter is the taste that we seem to love the least, in fact in many cases we avoid it. Astonishingly, this sharp taste is the one we have by far the most receptors for. Our hyper-sensitivity to the taste of bitter goes back to the very survival of humankind. In the days of early man, bitter on the tongue was an important stop sign, natures’ way of protecting us. This taste was associated with many poisons, and that “yuck, pitooey” reaction was a natural protector. When bitter food is placed in your mouth, hundreds of taste receptors start screaming for action. “Alert, Alert! defense squad, we may have a deadly invader here. Let’s kick the immune system into gear, get those digestive enzymes into hyper-drive and fight off this intruder!” That was a great and valuable EMT response back then, but today we know what foods we are eating so we don’t need that warning like we used to. But thank you for all the years of service Bitter, luckily, we survived to tell about it!
So, what happens today if we eat bitter flavored food that isn’t actually poisonous? Well ladies and gentlemen, the same protective response is still there. Imagine how good it would be ff we could eat these foods and they would boost our immune system and stimulate digestion? Turns out, it’s pretty DARN good. And now we have learned to actually like the taste of bitter foods. For example, have you ever heard of a digestif? Originally it was a drink that had bitters in it, taken before dinner as a way to kick off digestion, (now we call it happy hour). ; ) Quinine, also a bitter, was discovered as an immune enhancer and a cure for Malaria, now it’s in your gin and tonic. How about coffee, dark chocolate or red wine? Let me tell you if those bitters were poisonous we’d be extinct!
If you want to aid your digestion, get the most from what you eat, kick up your immune system and be healthier, it’s all about the B. My best recommendation to add to your better repertoire is to try some delicious bitter greens. Not only are they wonderful cold in a salad, they are also great hot, sautéed or grilled as a side vegetable. Greens are awesome for you too. They stimulate the production of enzymes and bile, key to good digestion, they also have lots of good vitamins, especially A, K and C. They have good minerals like calcium and potassium, and folate, (for a healthy nervous system). There is fiber to fill you up plus the cancer fighting phytonutrient, Kaempferol.
Spring is the time we see bitter greens arrive en force and I just love all of them. Belgian Endive, both traditional and red radicchio, Broad-leafed endive (escarole), and my favorite, curly endive, also known as frisée or chicory. Our chefs at Salty’s are deliciously preparing these protectors for you in Chef Jeremy’s latest post “The Growing Bitterness in America“. Chef Jeremy also has some great tips and inspiration on how to prepare and enjoy these good for you greens, and I suggest you do. After all, we know bitter is better.
