Typically, bitters are used in cocktails. They’re fragrant herbal liquors with a high alcohol content. Just a dash of bitters can really enhance a cocktail’s flavor. One of the most well-known bitters, Angostura, is an earthy, spicy elixir with a reputation for elevating Old-Fashioned and Manhattan cocktails. However, they have uses outside of mixed drinks. Bitters were historically used as medicine and digestive aids (and some bitters are still used that way), and you’ll find that a bottle of bitters can come in handy in the kitchen.
Reddish-brown, aromatic Angostura bitters is a whopping 90 proof — about 45% alcohol — making it incredibly difficult to drink on its own. Yet, when you add a small amount of this Trinidadian liquor to a cocktail, it acts as a sort of seasoning which brings out bold flavors in the other ingredients while adding spicy notes of clove and cinnamon. You can use Angostura bitters in much the same way when you’re cooking savory dishes like cooked meats or chili. The result is a distinctive herbal finish that brings out brighter flavors and aromas from other fragrant ingredients. In sweet dishes like ice cream or chocolate cake, its cinnamon-like qualities come into play, and it blends very well, especially if you use Angostura’s fruitier orange bitters.
Angostura bitters’ long history of enhancing foods
Angostura was invented in Venezuela in the early 1800s by a German doctor named Johann Siegert in General Simón Bolívar’s army, who wanted an herbal medicine for his soldiers. It’s named after the town of Angostura (now called Ciudad Bolívar). However, since the 1870s, Angostura bitters have been made in Trinidad and Tobago. Not long after Prohibition ended, Angostura began appearing in cookbooks, which offered Depression-era recipes for everything from broiled mackerel in Angostura butter to Angostura hot chocolate and Angostura puddings.
The culinary use of Angostura bitters is sort of like cooking with Coca-Cola because it can add a bright, distinctive finish to marinades and sauces when used sparingly. The two are comparable enough that bitters are a bar cart staple that can also improve soda. There’s some debate over whether to add Angostura bitters at the beginning or the end while cooking. However, in either case, you shouldn’t use it in recipes with long cooking times that can diminish the bitters’ more fragrant flavors, leaving behind only the most bitter qualities. (You can make the same mistake cooking with India Pale Ales).
