Thursday, May 29, 2008

Flavor tripping




This looks like a lot of fun- a West African berry called "miracle fruit" that chemically enhances taste , and makes things taste sweeter, turning Tabasco sauce into doughnut glaze, lemon to sugar , and beer to velvety chocolate. The active ingredient in the fruit, miraculin, apparently 'binds' the taste buds, creating the strange reaction. The fruit (scientific name: synsepalum dulcificum) may be purchased online at this website. and here The fruit has been known to westerners since the 18th century, wonder why I haven't heard of it until now... Might be time to pick up a copy of Adam Leith Gollner's book The Fruit Hunters, which has an entire chapter on the subject, and to special order some berries for a party chez moi..

10 comments: