Source of bitterness..

[jpinmaryland]

I was watching guy on Food TV (not sure who) who says that the source of all bitterness in food comes from salt. IS this really true? What about chocolate? Doesnt this have bitter flavors? Also what about beer? Doesnt beer have bitter flavors? Thank you.

 

[ronjohn55]

Well, the bitterness in the beer I make comes almost exclusively from Hops, not salt. (There are a few other possibilities - some good, most BAD, like tannin extraction from grain hulls which leads to astringency)

Hops impart bitterness by way of their alpha acid content, which is isomerized during boiling... (God, I sound WAY too geeky....)

Having not seen the show, maybe they were talking about some sort of checmical reactions on the taste buds or something??

John

 

[southerncook]

I've always read that you should salt things to remove bitterness, eggplant for example, it sweats it out??

 

[aruzinsky]

If you really want to taste bitterness, chew a penicillin pill instead of swallowing it.

 

[Barbara L]

A lot of spices will make food bitter if you use too much.

Barbara

 

[Psiguyy]

I believe that's true about salt. There's nothing more bitter than a salty wo/man scorned.

(wo/man: As you can see, I'm an equal opportunity bigot.)