[Herbalist] bitter

[Katherine Blackthorne]

>My theory is that the influx of
>sugar-sweetened items signaled the beginning of the demise of
>bitter tastes in western Europe that we only now are starting to
>recover from. I'm not talking about a demise over 10 years or
>so, but a more extended one. We now see the bitter greens in
>salads. My parents, while not old (I'm only 30 something), would
>likely never have known anything resembling a bitter herb in
>their diet had they not had them in California in their teenage
>years. >Iasmin


I don't think I can agree.

I was raised by my East Coast grandparents who were born around 1913.  They
abhorred iceberg lettuce as having "no taste".  Endive & Kale were big in
their gardens... and every spring we scoured the yard for fresh Dandilion
greens to cook up like spinach.  It was something you craved, after a long
winter with no fresh vegetables.

I have read accounts of people in the 1800's similarly harvesting early
greens which are known to be bitter, so my grandparents weren't unique in
this.

Also, let us not forget that -- Keystone comercials aside -- the variety of
beer called "Bitter" has never really gone away, at least not in England.
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