On today’s episode of Eat Your Words, host Cathy Erway interviews Jennifer McLagan and Mayur Subbarao. Jennifer McLagan is a Canadian chef and author based in Toronto. She has become famous for writing books on food and is the author of the book Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes. On today’s show Cathy discusses her most recent book, Bitter. They discuss the rise in artisanal bitters, the various bitters that we encounter and the importance of it in our foods. Mayur Sabbarao is the Co-founder of Bittermens Spirits. Mayur is a master sommelier and ex-Beverage Director of El Cobre & Cienfuegos in New York’s East Village. He has been pushing the envelope on blending modern techniques and classic flavor profiles. He created kegged cocktails for El Cobre and Amor y Amargo, perfected a method for clarifying citrus juice and designed a number of soon-to-be world class liqueurs and vermouths. He stresses that bitterness is a way of elevating the pallets. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market

“And now they’re ready to cook with bitterness as well” [3:20]

“I think that’s what makes bitter the most interesting of tastes…..It’s a huge range chemical combinations that are sent to the brain.” [24:30]

“In the Philippines they put a small bit of bitter lemon juice on a baby’s tongue……it’s supposed to be for medicinal purposes” [26:20]