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Every few years, the media picks up the story of Miracle Fruit, an African berry that plays tricks with the human tongue: it changes how you perceive sour flavors, making even the sourest foods (like lemons and beer) seem super-sweet.
The newest fervor over Miracle Fruit comes from a May New York Times piece, though coverage of the fruit goes back a ways. (I think the first time I heard about the fruit was circa 1997, and it seems to pop up as new news every now and again.) Anyway, the Times article describes the fruit and the phenomenon of “flavor tripping parties,” in which participants pay an entry fee to taste some Miracle Fruit, then indulge in all sorts of sour-turned-sweet flavors:
Mr. Aliquo greeted new arrivals and took their $15 entrance fees. In return, he handed each one a single berry from his jacket pocket.
“You pop it in your mouth and scrape the pulp off the seed, swirl it around and hold it in your mouth for about a minute,” he said. “Then you’re ready to go.” He ushered his guests to a table piled with citrus wedges, cheeses, Brussels sprouts, mustard, vinegars, pickles, dark beers, strawberries and cheap tequila, which Mr. Aliquo promised would now taste like top-shelf Patrón.
Miracle Fruit’s sweet-making properties are thanks to an active ingredient (identified way back in 1968) that goes by the bizarrely optimistic name Miraculin. The FDA has refused to approve the substance as a sweetening agent in the US, and instead has classified it a “food additive.” Many Miraculin proponents strongly disagree with this decision, speculating that the FDA is in the pocket of Big Sugar (or Big Corn Syrup, perhaps).
If you’re looking for your own flavor trip, you can buy fruit from Miracle Fruit Man (aka Curtis Mozie), or from the Flavor Trip guy himself. Further information is also available via Miracle Fruit’s Wikipedia page. As a Portland resident, I look forward to tracking down this fellow and getting the hookup:
Lance J. Mayhew developed a series of drink recipes with miracle fruit foams and extracts for a recent issue of the cocktail magazine Imbibe and may create others for Beaker & Flask, a restaurant opening later this year in Portland, Ore.
So have any Mental Floss readers partaken of the Miracle Fruit? If so, would you recommend it?
Never heard about it before, but this is why I love Mental Floss. There’s so many amazing and crazy things in the world.
I’ve heard that some scientists think that artificial sweeteners mess with your blood sugar levels (since your body is expecting sugar but doesn’t get it); does Miracle Fruit have the same effect?
posted by gibson8or on 6-11-2008 at 5:40 pm
@gibson8or - Supposedly Miracle Fruit is “better” than other sweeteners because it itself isn’t sweet — it’s just deadening taste receptors on your tongue. So I assume it wouldn’t be bad for blood sugar levels, but I dunno.
posted by Chris Higgins on 6-11-2008 at 5:43 pm
It works. Tried it a few years ago & it made lemon wedges taste like orange wedges. Kinda cool. Tho, eating oranges would have probably worked too. ;-)
posted by justme on 6-11-2008 at 7:59 pm
Chris, I think Lance had the fruit shipped in from Florida, since I don’t think they grown in the NW (though I’m not 100% positive). You can read Lance’s article and get one of his recipes on Imbibe’s website (click my name). Hope to see you at Beaker and Flask when it opens!
posted by Siobhan on 6-11-2008 at 8:22 pm
My former roommate and I got some after we heard a story on NPR. We waited forever for it and were really let down. It was really hard to get my brain to accept what I was tasting since it knew what it was supposed to taste like. It lasted too long and We ended up just chucking the rest of the batch.
posted by nikki on 6-11-2008 at 9:06 pm
My friend is obsessed with having a Miracle Fruit party. He claims the FDA won’t approve it because they worried it would make toxic liquids, etc, taste like candy. Who knows if that’s true. *shrug*
Looking forward to trying it sometime!
posted by Caitlin on 6-12-2008 at 1:28 am
i was lucky to get some at the Inaugural Meeting of the Athanasius Kircher Society in new york a couple years ago. my girlfriend managed to get the last berry that they had and we split it. it was really cool. the limes i had were the tastiest fruit i’ve ever eaten.
posted by jesse on 6-12-2008 at 8:31 am
Catilin - they didn’t approve it due to pressure from Big Sugar.
posted by miracle fruit on 6-12-2008 at 9:24 am
Sucko! I want to try these berries but I´m pretty sure they will be impossible to get in Peru. I cant even get cranberries here much less miracle berries (although I have to admit that cranberries taste like little red miracles to me)!
posted by GTT on 6-12-2008 at 11:12 am
If you want to try out the latest evolution of the Miracle Fruit.
Check our site, we are one the founder of spreading the news worldside of the new product
Taste Trips aka Miracle Berry Tablets
posted by Miracle Berry on 6-12-2008 at 1:39 pm
we supply to peru :)
posted by Taste Trips on 6-12-2008 at 1:41 pm
Hi, many people seem to be looking to buy a new craze food which seems to have taken the world with a whirlwind, it’s the Miracle berry or fruit, it simply makes bitter things taste sweet! Yes, it great and we are the manufacturer of the Miracle Berry tablets, having shipping departments in EU, UK & USA. You can buy them wholesale and retail at www.good-diets.com happy sweet eating.
posted by Mel on 6-13-2008 at 9:37 am
My husband’s uncle actually grows a Miracle Fruit plant, and the berries do exactly what everyone says. I’ve had the berries with things like lemons - which then taste like lemonade - but I’ve never gone so far as to taste things like vinegar. The berries can give a funky flavor to somethings - like beer - that just don’t need it.
posted by Sarah M... on 6-13-2008 at 2:41 pm
We can supply the miracle berries in tablet form, this way they store longer and can be shared around with more people. Look at www.twistedtaste.co.uk if your intrested.
posted by Tom P on 6-17-2008 at 2:49 am
Strawberries are by far my favorite, for a complete list of foods to try go to www.miraclefruitworld.com
Oh and Rhubarb is a MUST!
posted by JillL on 7-9-2008 at 1:01 pm
I have been shipping miracle fruit tablets to the US now for a few months. We are based in Scottsdale, AZ please visit our site if you would like more information or to order some
miraclefruitexpress.com
posted by Will on 7-27-2008 at 3:15 pm
I have a video here of Gordon Ramsay and oscar winning actress Juliette Binosh on The Graham Norton Show, trying out the berries. Check out foodtvblog . com
posted by Michael on 7-31-2008 at 6:47 am
Hi,
What some people don’t know is that besides the effect of making everything that is sour sweet, it can also prevent hangovers. Take 1 or 2 tablets during drinking and 1 before you go to bed.
In most cases No hangover the next day.
Please have a look at www.ninjaberry.nl
posted by Lorenzo on 8-11-2008 at 5:23 am
Hi there
I am Russ Danny researcher of the miracle fruit seed breading .I am my husband have been working in several countries trying to see whether this fruit can grow in this countries .But it was successful in most Africa countries then UK,EU ,and USA .but we own a small garden in the UK and Italy were about 800 seedlings are grown each .And in the 3 Africa countries that we tested this plant about 8000 to 9000 seeding have now grown and bearing fruit over 6 years .
Please if any one need this plant , seed or the fruit there can contact me .
on
email .russdanny@ymail.com
my husband email . davehusking@gmail.com
call. 0870495411
.
posted by russ on 8-27-2008 at 5:05 am
The tablets are a lot cheaper than the actual miracle fruit. The tablets also have a longer shelf life too.
posted by David on 9-1-2008 at 4:32 pm
Hello, this is really one amazing berry, I received mine from www.miraclefruitworld.com together with a list of foods and recipes to go with it! You’ll have fun.
posted by john on 9-5-2008 at 1:38 pm
The history of the miracle fruit definitely is intriguing. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but based off of what I’ve read, someone did not want miracle fruit to take off. There’s a chapter dedicated to the miracle fruit in the book The Fruit Hunters by Adam Leith Gollner. Great read.
posted by Angel on 11-21-2008 at 6:24 pm