In praise of the bitter: Alexina Anatole’s recipes for tahini panzanella and curried corn farinata

In Ayurvedic cooking, bitter ingredients are celebrated for their ability to refresh and rebalance. Here, the elegance of tahini and the cleanliness of grapefruit do the heavy lifting Bitterness has long had an image problem: is it delicious or disgusting?

Here’s another contradiction: though bitterness seems as if it should sit alongside hot, pungent flavours such as mustard and horseradish, in reality it cools more than it builds. In Ayurvedic cooking, for instance, bitter ingredients are valued for their ability to…