Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor is not the typical read for me. I was hoping for a biography of sorts of bitterness. I wanted to understand why the bitterness of hops is so appealing to me (as is citrus) whereas vegetables like broccoli or Brussel Sprouts are major turn offs in aroma and taste.
What the book is, is mostly recipes. Some intriguing like Beer Jelly and others with ingredients that I would rather leave out of my kitchen. There is information of both historical and cooking types inside the covers but it is more of an aside and less the main thrust of the tale. Case in point: An excellent two pages on how sound affects eating pleasure. It was intelligent to point out how airplane sound is one if the reasons that food a mile high is unappetizing. The photography though is amazing. Simple but detailed. Close enough to really see the items on display and well staged.
Jennifer McLagan is an engaging writer whose personality shines through and I did learn about entemological backgrounds of grapefruit and other foods but I just did not get enough to reach the level of what I desired to learn.
Perhaps there is another book out there on this taste.