A Bitter Experience with Alexina Anatole
We are delighted to be welcoming Food Writer and MasterChef finalist, Alexina Anatole, to The Riverford Field Kitchen.
Fearlessly bringing together the best flavours and culinary strategies from around the world, Alexina Anatole will help you befriend bitterness -- one flavour-balancing technique at a time.
In her debut cookbook “Bitter”, Alexina uses ten ingredients to walk you through every type of bitterness and how to tame it - from grapefruit and bitter oranges, bitter greens, tahini, beer, walnuts, cranberries, tea, coffee, cocoa and liquorice - each recipe will expand your repertoire and open the door to new worlds of deliciousness, using bitterness in both savoury and sweet dishes to elevate the taste of everything you make.
The menu for the evening will explore the beauty in bitter flavours and will feature recipes such as burnt aubergine dip, duck confit, bitter orange salsa verde, buttermilk-mashed King Edwards, charred Savoy cabbage, and pear and cranberry pie.
Praise for Alexina:
Alexina's ability to take very strong, bitter, sharp flavours and marry them together with majesty is incredible ― John Torode
I may have said this quite a few times, but I feel it bears repeating: bitterness is the most undesirable of attributes, except when it comes to food … My 'bitter tooth' is pronounced … I gravitated greedily towards Alexina Anatole’s book, Bitter -- Nigella Lawson
Extremely accomplished ― Jay Rayner
We will have copies of Bitter to buy and Alexina will be on hand to sign them.
When: Wednesday 24th January
Time: 7pm for 7.30pm service
Cost: £55 per person
Please note that we don't accept ANY dietary requirements for Guest Chef events, not even vegetarian/vegan alternatives.
Please read our terms and conditions before booking. By completing the booking process you are confirming you agree and understand the terms and conditions, including the cancellation policy.
The booking button will take you to our website, where you will need to choose the number of guests and the date Wednesday 24th January and it will then show availability. We require full payment when booking for this event.
About Alexina Anatole
"I love eating. This is what it all boils down to. It’s the reason I cook and write about flavour, the reason I eat out, the reason I read cookbooks in bed, the reason that I travel. And, of course, it’s what led me to apply to MasterChef."
Alexina was born in Brighton, grew up in Paris, and then Brixton, South London. The granddaughter of chicken farmers from Cambridgeshire, and Saint Lucian grandparents, she read English at Cambridge, became a Trader in London, and then during the pandemic, she applied for MasterChef and realised there was a future for her passion of food and cooking.
Securing a multi-book deal with Penguin for cookbooks on flavour was the first step, and her debut cookbook Bitter was released in September 2023. The second, Sweet, will land in February 2025. Sour, Salty and Umami will follow.
Beyond researching, writing and developing the books, Alexina cooks (at my monthly supper club, as well as private events), presents (on panels, at festivals and in front of the camera) and teaches (at places such as Leiths School of Food & Wine).
