Taming bitter with sugar and salt
Coffee, dark chocolate, grapefruit and kale contain bitter compounds, and your tongue has about 25 types of bitter receptor to catch them. Many toxic plant compounds taste bitter, so even a little bitterness stands out.
Bitterness is reduced, not removed
Sweetness and saltiness both turn down how bitter food seems, but the bitter compounds are still there. That's why cocoa needs sugar and salt, and grapefruit gets sprinkled with sugar. Scorched food stays bitter.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
Why does a tiny pinch of salt make bitter coffee taste smoother?
Sodium reduces how strongly you perceive bitterness. The compounds stay in the cup. Salt lowers the bitter signal your tongue sends.
True or false: Stirring sugar into coffee removes the bitter compounds from the cup.
False. Sugar turns down how bitter coffee tastes. The bitter compounds stay in the cup.
What went wrong? You leave the sugar and salt out of a cocoa sauce to keep it pure. The sauce tastes harshly bitter.
Sugar and salt are what reduce the cocoa's bitterness. Without either one, the full bitter signal of the cocoa comes through.
Fill the blank: Sweetness and saltiness both ___ how bitter a food tastes.
Sweetness and saltiness both suppress how bitter a food tastes. Each turns the bitter signal down, though the compounds remain.
Why are humans so sensitive to bitter tastes?
Toxic plants are often bitter, so bitterness works as a warning. Being sensitive to it helps people avoid plants that could be harmful.