Bitter Tastes

Challenging the conventional understandings of literary naturalism defined primarily through its male writers, Donna M. Campbell examines the ways in which American women writers wrote naturalistic fiction and redefined its principles for their own purposes. Bitter Tastes looks at examples from Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin, Willa Cather, Ellen Glasgow, and others and positions their work within the naturalistic canon that arose near the turn of the twentieth century. Campbell further places these women writers in a broader context by tracing their relationship to early film, which, like naturalism, claimed the ability to represent elemental social truths through a documentary method. Women had a significant presence in early film and constituted 40 percent of scenario writers--in many cases they also served as directors and producers. Campbell explores the features of naturalism that assumed special prominence in women's writing and early film and how the work of these early naturalists diverged from that of their male counterparts in important ways.

The champion of uncelebrated foods including fat, offal, and bones, Jennifer McLagan turns her attention to a fascinating, underappreciated, and trending topic: bitterness. What do coffee, IPA beer, dark chocolate, and radicchio all have in common? They’re bitter. While some culinary cultures, such as in Italy and parts of Asia, have an inherent appreciation for bitter flavors (think Campari and Chinese bitter melon), little attention has been given to bitterness in North America: we’re much more likely to reach for salty or sweet. However, with a surge in the popularity of craft beers; dark chocolate; coffee; greens like arugula, dandelion, radicchio, and frisée; high-quality olive oil; and cocktails made with Campari and absinthe—all foods and drinks with elements of bitterness—bitter is finally getting its due. In this deep and fascinating exploration of bitter through science, culture, history, and 100 deliciously idiosyncratic recipes—like Cardoon Beef Tagine, White Asparagus with Blood Orange Sauce, and Campari Granita—award-winning author Jennifer McLagan makes a case for this misunderstood flavor and explains how adding a touch of bitter to a dish creates an exciting taste dimension that will bring your cooking to life.

Approximately 380 million people worldwide are 60 years of age or older. This number is predicted to triple to more than 1 billion by 2025. Aging, Nutrition and Taste: Nutrition, Food Science and Culinary Perspectives for Aging Tastefully provides research, facts, theories, practical advice and recipes with full color photographs to feed the rapidly growing aging population healthfully. This book takes an integrated approach, utilizing nutrition, food science and the culinary arts. A significant number of aging adults may have taste and smell or chemosensory disorders and many may also be considered to be undernourished. While this can be partially attributed to the behavioral, physical and social changes that come with aging, the loss or decline in taste and smell may be at the root of other disorders. Aging adults may not know that these disorders exist nor what can be done to compensate. This text seeks to fill the knowledge gap. Aging, Nutrition and Taste: Nutrition, Food Science and Culinary Perspectives for Aging Tastefully examines aging from three perspectives: nutritional changes that affect health and well-being; food science applications that address age-specific chemosensory changes, compromised disease states and health, and culinary arts techniques that help make food more appealing to diminishing senses. Beyond scientific theory, readers will find practical tips and techniques, products, recipes, and menus to increase the desirability, consumption and gratification of healthy foods and beverages as people age. Presents information on new research and theories including a fresh look at calcium, cholesterol, fibers, omega-3 fatty acids, higher protein requirements, vitamins C, E, D, trace minerals and phytonutrients and others specifically for the aging population Includes easy to access and usable definitions in each chapter, guidelines, recommendations, tables and usable bytes of information for health professionals, those who work with aging populations and aging people themselves Synthesizes overall insights in overviews, introductions and digest summaries of each chapter, identifying relevant material from other chapters and clarifying their pertinence

Jennifer McLagan is Canada’s most well-respected cookbook writer. Her three cookbooks, Bones, Fat, and Odd Bits have each been heralded as groundbreaking and exciting, and she has won multiple, prestigious James Beard and IACP awards. Her favourite theme is underappreciated food treasure, be it bone-in, skin-on meats in a boneless, skinless society, or the delights of fat in a fat-phobic world, or the misunderstood and badly treated offal. With Bitter, she’s at it again, this time exploring a flavour that has been virtually lost to us in our overly sweet and salty world. With her previous books, Jennifer was at the front of a food movement; she’s done it again here, as the craze for bitter is just beginning. Bitters are again becoming important in cocktails, craft beers and bitter chocolate are gaining in popularity. Surely the kitchen is the next frontier for bitter, and this book will hail its arrival. Great food and cooking is about balance, and bitter flavours add depth and resonance to dishes aiding in the dish’s overall harmony. Understanding how to use, subdue and enhance bitter will make us better cooks. That’s what Bitter is all about.

"The science of taste and how to improve your sense of taste so that you get the most out of every bite"--

Mechanisms of Taste Transduction introduces a number of topics essential to a complete understanding of taste. These topics range from the control of food intake to the biophysical mechanisms of transduction and the design of food flavors in the food industry. The responses and organization of special sensory pathways are described in regard to the

Only recently has bitterness control become of commercial importance to a food or pharmaceutical formulation chemist. Over the years, an increasing interest in more palatable food and beverage products with low fat and low sugar content has arisen, thus creating a market need for the control of bitterness perception. This is the first, comprehensive treatment of this subject in book form. Organized primarily by ingredients or processing approaches affecting the bitter taste reduction or inhibition, this thorough review includes an in-depth and thoroughly referenced review of mechanisms, ingredients and applications of bitter taste reduction or inhibition.