Vegetables aren’t the only category to experience a bump in bitter options. Perhaps what started the whole bitter trend, McLagan says, were cocktails like the negroni—a tart-tasting drink made of gin, vermouth, Campari, and orange peel that has now replaced sangria in popularity. The rise of New Nordic cooking, which includes lichens and birch tree ash, has played a role as well. “People are coming to realize that bitter is the most sophisticated flavor and that it adds balance, dimension, and complexity to dishes,” McLagan says. Embracing bitter foods can also improve health, says McLagan. The compounds that make foods taste tart, such as polyphenols in cacoa, also happen to be potent age-avenging antioxidants. What’s more, liking bitter foods opens up your palate to many more vegetable options and less sugary, saccharine foods—two inclinations that can only boost overall health. For example, a recent study published in the journal Appetite found that individuals who frowned upon bitter-tasting fare were more likely to be overweight. This makes sense if you tame the bitterness of your morning coffee with spoonfuls of sugar. While most people aren’t born with a craving for bitter foods—a fact the food industry isn’t helping to alleviate by pumping sugar and salt into everything from ketchup to peanut butter—McLagan says you can learn to actually crave them. “It can be as easy as tossing a handful of bitter greens into your regular salads,” she says. Adding these bitter foods to your diet can help direct your taste toward healthier foods: Arugula Bitter melon Brussels sprouts Chicory Citrus peel Coffee Cocoa Dandelion greens Dark chocolate with 85% cocoa Dark greens like chard, collard, and kale Eggplant Endive Grapefruit Radicchio Rapini Tea Turmeric Turnip Walnuts Watercress
