New Delhi, April 3 -- Not every flavour needs to comfort us," says Prateek Sadhu, 40, founder and executive chef of Naar, the Himalayan speciality restaurant in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. He describes bitterness as one of the more misunderstood flavours, often sidelined, minimised by curing it down, rather than celebrated for the story it tells of its location, time and context.

Our foraging ancestors used bitterness to identify toxicity. Research, including on neem flower toxicity by Thailand's National Cancer Institute, and the Gut Peptide Research Lab at KU Leuven, Belgium, shows an excess of bitters activates gut receptors to trigger nausea and warn you off potential toxins, intake of which can affect liver function and weight. Howev...