Penelope Baldwin is bitter - bitter about how sugar and sweet foods dominate our food. Rebecca Fox finds out about her mission to bring back bitterness.
It is not unusual to see Penelope Baldwin foraging along roadsides or empty plots of land looking for what most people would see as weeds.
But to Ms Baldwin they are not weeds, they are plants with flavouring and medicinal properties.
"Once you know what you are looking for, they're everywhere.''
So she gathers them up and transforms them into "bitters'', a concentrated flavouring with medicinal benefits.
Many people would recognise angostura bitters from the popular "non-alcoholic'' lemon, lime and bitters drink favoured by many Kiwis.
However, Ms Baldwin, a trained naturopath, medical herbalist and holistic nutritionist, has put a twist on the traditional bitters using commonly found plants in Otago as a basis for her product.
"There's been a lot of experimentation and testing on people. A few fails, but something comes out of it eventually.''
It all began when she and a friend began searching out an idea for their second-year Otago Polytechnic bachelor of culinary arts project.
"I wanted something low value you could add value to. Using free plants and food seemed perfect.''
They came across hawthorn berries, which are also medicinal, but discovered they were unpalatable.
"We were nearly going to chuck it all in but then we thought we could utilise the bitter taste.''
Ms Baldwin had always been interested in bitters, given her training in naturopathy, Chinese medicine and holistic nutrition.
"It's good for your digestion and for your liver and you can play around with the flavour.
"We need to rethink it as like a seasoning: salt, pepper and bitters.''
So they developed the flavour of the bitters, foraging in Otago Polytechnic's herb and vegetable gardens for flavourings getting a good response from their project's judging panel.
She has taken the project a step further in creating Botanical Kitchen, a company that combines herbs and traditional medicine with food.
That includes developing beverages which make the bitters more accessible to people and take advantage of the increasing market for healthy beverages.
While traditional bitters were made from gentian, which was now endangered, she used parts of bitter plants that were often waste products, such as globe artichoke leaves and celery tops and then foraged around Otago for the flavourings, which meant some products were seasonal.
She has developed a line of bitters beverages including the "love tonic'' flavoured by hibiscus and rose and a "hangover tonic'' flavoured with ginger, lemon and tumeric.
"What the ginger does is increase your circulation, so it helps to get those botanicals through the bloodstream, and the lemon and tumeric are highly anti-inflammatory and really good for the liver as it helps process the alcohol a bit faster.''
In collaboration with Otago Polytechnic communication bachelor of design (Communication) students her branding, logo, posters and an advertisement were created.
"They were amazing. They even designed some packaging, and other products like tea towels and aprons.''
She was now working to standardise the recipes for the tonics so they could be produced in greater quantities.
"There is always some variation when you are working with organic materials.''
Her bitters cordials had also been chosen as one of the gifts that Otago Polytechnic will be giving as part of its 50th celebrations, made with ingredients from the polytechnic's own gardens, she said.
People were starting to develop more of a palate for bitter tastes as craft beer and chocolate makers were also introducing the flavour.
"It's becoming more trendy. People are starting to seek out these flavours.''
She hoped to educate people about bitters and its uses past just as a cocktail flavour.
Ms Baldwin was also developing food recipes using the bitters.
"The health benefits are massive. It stimulates appetite and helps get the digestive juices flowing and supports the liver which is bombarded these days. It's a very overworked organ.''
Bitters was traditionally added to alcoholic drinks to assist the body with detoxification of alcohol.
"You have to enjoy life but you also need the tools to make sure your body still functions properly.''
Getting to this point - she has given up her full-time job to fully develop her company and the beverage line as well as continue studying at Otago Polytechnic - has been a twisted path.
She left school with the aim of going to art school.
After six months in retail - her father's idea - she managed to get into art school and completed a certificate in visual art before majoring in metalwork at design school.
Then, while fruit picking one summer, she had an "epiphany'' and realised while she knew how to cook, she wanted to be able to care for her family.
"What was missing was health care. I'd always been a bit of a naturalist, so botanical medicine seemed [the right path].''
So she went on to study to be a naturopath and discovered during her practice she most enjoyed talking to clients about food and creating recipes for them.
Being a chef was not an option.
She had spent enough time in hospitality to know it was not a nurturing or balancing lifestyle.
Then she saw an advertisement in the Otago Daily Times for the Otago Polytechnic's bachelor of culinary arts programme and "it ticked all the boxes''.
"It talked about using food, building a career, rather than learning how to cook. It really appealed.''
She has since completed the degree and graduates on Friday.
Ms Baldwin is looking forward to another two years of study as she tackles a master's programme.
"I want to focus more on research and development into products, sugars particularly.''
At the moment she uses organic cane sugar in her products because initial research had shown it was the best option as it was sustainably sourced and had potential medicinal qualities in the right quantities.
"It is the amount of sugar people consume, not just the sugar itself and my products are designed to be treats: they are medicine. It's about having one lovely glass and enjoying it.''
However, she wanted to see if she could find a sweetener that had no side effects, was palatable and able to be grown in New Zealand or another non-polluted country.
While natural sweetener stevia had potential many people did not like its taste.
She also hoped to develop workshops to encourage other people to forage for medicinal plants and educate them on what to look for.
They would be an add-on to the "wee'' book she had already produced on the topic.
"We are so lucky in New Zealand to have access to plants that can make us healthy, but most of us don't know how to use them. Dandelion and elderberry flowers are everywhere at the moment, we think of them as weeds but they're fun to use in cooking.''
Bitters - defined
"Alcohol flavoured with bitter plant extracts, used as an additive in cocktails or as a medicinal substance to promote appetite or digestion.''
