Pictured above is the berry of the miracle fruit plant and it has some interesting properties. I first heard about it from Mark’s Daily Apple where they explained how the berry has a certain chemical, called miraculin, that changes the way your taste buds perceive foods. Basically it neutralizes the acidic or sour tastes in food and enhances the sweet flavors. This sounded really cool to me and I did some further digging. I found that the fruits themselves are hard to come by and often run in the neighborhood of $2 per berry. They also sell a freeze-dried concentrated tablet of the fruit which provides the same effects in a cheaper and more shelf-friendly version.

Due to the effects of miraculin, it has been used in Asia by diabetics to enhance sweet flavors without risking additional sugar. In fact, in the 1970s there was an effort to utilize it as a sugar substitute but the FDA ruled against its use for that purpose. Over at the NY Times, they ran an article on the rising popularity of “flavor tripping” parties where people gather to share in the strange experience. By this point, my curiosity was piqued and I ordered some of the tablets to try my own experiment at home. In my own trials, I found that I found the flavors much the same as reported on Mark’s Daily Apple:

After dissolving a tab on his tongue, he dove into the bounty, which included:

• Guinness beer (the best of all; tasted like a chocolate milk shake)
• Blueberries (tasted like the best blueberries ever)
• Cherry tomatoes (tasted a bit like Concord grapes)
• Lemons (tasted like lemon candy)
• Wine (awful; tasted like “painfully sweet dessert wine”)
• Jalapeños (sweet on the outside, spicy on the inside, rather overwhelming)
• Mustard (tasted like sweet frosting)
• Ritz Cheese Sandwiches (admittedly not Primal, but the cheese filling tasted like Oreo filling)

In other news, we at Intrepid want to wish a happy birthday to our good friend Al Viquez who is “under the influence” out in Temecula. Don’t forget we will have a caravan after the Saturday morning WOD on May 22nd to Al and Michelle’s for a BBQ/b-day bash and pool hijinks!

WOD 05.13.10

Make Up Day