bob delGrosso's Profile
Mark Bittman: Expert in Residence!
Or what about adding salt when you use it for anything other than sauteing? Salt attenuates the brains perception of bitterness. So, adding a pinch of salt to the oil or the food you will oil, will make it taste less bitter. I should add that there appears to be no chemical reaction between the salt and the bitter chemicals in the oil, but something that happens in the nervous system when it is infiltrated by sodium and chlorine ions.
The reason you don't want to salt the oil and heat it for sauteing is that the salt lowers the smoke point of the oil so that it burns up, tastes worse, and probably becomes carcinogenic.
on Aug 04, 2009
