Square Peg Bitter 80 delicious flavour-packed and original recipes, as seen on Saturday Kitchen.

by Alexina Anatole

It's time to embrace the beauty of bitter flavours.Often thought of as an acquired taste, bitter flavours add complexity and depth to a dish - making food incredibly moreish. Fearlessly bringing together the best flavours and ideas from around the world, Alexina will help you befriend bitterness - one ingredient at a time. Using ten ingredients to walk you through every type of bitterness - grapefruit and bitter oranges, bitter greens, tahini, beer, walnuts, cranberries, tea, coffee, cocoa and liquorice - each recipe will expand your repertoire and open the door to new worlds of deliciousness.These 80 recipes include something to suit every taste and occasion. Start with bold breakfasts recipes, like Banoffee Breakfast Bread , Malted Crepes with Lime & Sugar , and Winter Citrus Fruit Salad , then fill your day with light lunches and weeknight dinners like Roasted Aubergines with Whipped Feta, Grapefruit & Hot Honey , Seared Salmon Tacos with Grapefruit & Avocado and Allspice Lamb Chops with Pickled Walnut Ketchup . Then, impress your guests with Ancho Coffee Beef Short Ribs , Duck Confit with Bitter Orange Salsa Verde and Jerk Pork Belly with Grapefruit Hot Sauce , plus decadent desserts such as Negroni Pavlova, Bitter Chocolate Torte with Passionfruit Sauce and Tiramisu Tres Leches cake .

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 28, 2023

Reviews

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of recipes. Personally, I like bitter tastes, and like the author, believe that they are good for your health (particularly good for the liver). The current fashion is to make everything sweet: adding sugar, corn syrup or other sweeteners, or breeding plants (such as lettuces, apples) to get rid of any bitterness or acidity. This plays a not insignificant part in the worldwide pandemic of obesity. So, it is nice to see bitterness being championed, and a different approach to managing our tastes.
At the start there is a discussion about bitterness, its importance, and how the addition of non-bitter ingredients can soothe, balance, distract or offset it.
The book concentrates on ten different bitter ingredients: grapefruit & bitter oranges; bitter leaves; tahini; beer; walnuts; cranberries; tea; coffee; cocoa; and liquorice. There is a chapter on each, with a range of recipes – vegetarian, meat, sides, desserts, drinks.
So far, I have only tried six of the recipes – a couple of those twice – but there are more that do appeal to me, to try at a later date. I would love to try some of the liquorice recipes, but first need to get hold of some liquorice powder.
My absolute favourite was the ‘Aubergine, Walnut + Pomegranate Melanzane’ – amazing taste and textures. It took hours to prepare and cook (worth it, but drove my husband, who has to do the cooking, up the wall). Nothing difficult – just a lot of parts to set up before everything is brought together for the final baking. Just before serving, we noticed a tip hidden right at the end of the recipe, saying that most of the parts could be prepared days in advance! Serves us right for not reading the recipe right through. Next time (and there will be), it will be so much easier.
Also excellent were the ‘Tabbouleh fritters’ and the ‘French Chicory, Roquefort + Walnut salad’ . With special mention to the ‘Raw Kale + Grapefruit Salad’ and the ‘Asparagus with Sesame Seed Dressing’ .
An unusual, but very interesting cookbook. Recommended.

[Julie Thomason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this cookbook, I like the focus and the writing and loved the historical nuggets of the ingredients. I will try some recipes, other def not for me. However, the paring of items not usual was refreshing and I look forward to experimenting with some of them.

[Elizabeth]

As heard on The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters (834: Fall Cooking and Bitter Flavors with Genevieve Ko and Alexina Anatole)

This week, we’re diving into fall cooking and the beauty of bitter flavors. First, Genevieve Ko, deputy editor at New York Times Cooking, joins Francis to take your fall cooking questions. From freezing smart to cabbage makeovers, Genevieve shares practical advice for making the most of fresh produce and tackling leftovers. She also shares the NYT Cooking piece 15 Ways to Make a Head of Cabbage Dinner and her Pumpkin Meringue Pie recipe. And check out her Cinnamon-Toast Graham Crackers from the last time she joined us to talk about Better Baking. Then, London-based cookbook author Alexina Anatole shares the inspiration behind her debut book, Bitter. She makes the case for bitterness as an essential flavor, one that brings depth, intrigue, and balance to our cooking. Alexina reminds us how bitterness touches so many of our favorite foods and she leaves us with her recipe for Stout Sticky Toffee Pudding, a perfect example of sweet meeting bitter in harmony.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

September 19, 2025 (originally aired)

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[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept for a cookbook; some interesting-sounding recipes but not one I'd want to head to repeatedly. Nice layout.