A Turn for the Bitter
The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters
American Public Media
4.3 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 November 2016
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We look at the bitters craze with Mark Bitterman, author of Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari. Blogger Alana Chernila joins us with her new book, The Homemade Kitchen. Alan Muskat explains his forage-to-table tours, while the Sterns visit The Cupboard Restaurant in Memphis. And in honor of the show's 20th anniversary, we revisit a piece with journalist Anna Badkhen, author of Peace Meals.
Broadcast dates for this episode:
- November 6, 2015 (originally aired)
- November 4, 2016 (rebroadcast)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Ana Gonzalez, through this complicated country. |
| 0:08.1 | We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, their poetry, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature and get closer to the things we're missing. |
| 0:24.4 | Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts. |
| 0:33.2 | It's the splendid table from APM, American Public Media. I'm Lynne Rosetta Casper. |
| 0:39.2 | Well, thanks to the cocktail craze, bitters abound. |
| 0:42.5 | Yes, they're delicious. |
| 0:44.0 | But according to the aptly named Mark Bitterman, |
| 0:47.1 | author of Bitterman's Field Guide to Bitters and Amari, |
| 0:50.2 | they can be even more delicious when deployed outside the high bowl glass. |
| 0:55.1 | I actually use bitters as a way to add flavor complexity into dishes that might otherwise lack it. |
| 1:01.0 | So I might just put a dash or two in a sauce. |
| 1:03.1 | I'll put a grapefruit bitters, for example, maybe in a sour dressing. |
| 1:06.9 | I'll put a fruitier bitters in a dessert like whipped cream or you name it. |
| 1:11.5 | So it's actually a wonderful way to add a little bit of complexity, |
| 1:15.0 | and sometimes it's fun to have this little unexpected note of bitterness. |
| 1:19.1 | The nuance of bitters and breaking bread over Kalashnikovs, |
| 1:23.9 | this hour on the splendid table. |
| 1:35.3 | Music This hour on the Splendid Table. This is The Splendid Table from APM, American Public Media, |
| 1:39.7 | the show for people who love to eat. |
| 1:42.7 | I'm Lynne Rosedo Casper. |
| 2:10.7 | Thank you. show for people who love to eat. I'm Lynne Rossetto, Casper. Right beside the craft cocktail explosion is the rebirth of the cocktail's essential sidekick, a new world of craft bidders. |
| 2:14.5 | These little bottles bring the exclamation point to drinks. Some nip, some purr, some |
... |
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