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Miracle Fruit Tasting

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Stephen D

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Miracle Fruit Tasting

by Stephen D » Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:16 am

Last night, I joined Jo Self and Bon Savant for a miracle fruit tasting. Miracle fruit is this berry, originally from West Africa, that changes the way one perceives flavors- namely sour to sweet. It is the rave as an artificial sweetener in Japan, and we used the pellets. The raw fruit is too difficult to get now because it has become so popular across the country for 'flavor tripping parties.' It seemed to me that the fruit doesn't transform flavors, rather it inhibits sour taste receptors. In other words it doesn't make something sweet, you simply taste naturally occurring sugars because you can't perceive the sour chemicals that normally dominate a flavor profile...

We had a laundry list of ingredients, from habaneros to pennywort to bourbon to pisco. I'm guessing at about 45- 50 items. I left with a bit of a tummy ache! Some of the most drastic 'transformations:' sauerkraut tasted like sweet pickles, raw sour fruit turned into the best koolaid ever and Linenkugel blueberry tasted like Easter candy.

The area that showed most promise was in fatty meats. Ham could have passed for turkey and bologna became kinda bland, almost nondescript. I am guessing that becasuse fats, being a type of acid (ogliosaccarides a.k.a. fatty acids, right?) are subdued in flavor by the effect. It will be interesting to pursue this concept further, as any miracle fruit meal would have to include some kind of protein. I wonder if ribeye would taste like tenderloin? Perhaps some kind of rilette? What effect would it have on bone marrow? Fatty fish like spanish mackerel? Lots of questions here...

Capsaicin was unaffected, indeed became a much more aggressive flavor due to the lack of balancing flavors in things like kimchi. Garlic became napalm. Onions fared a bit better, I'd bet due to the higher amount of naturally- occuring sugars.

Bitter items, like turnip greens became much more rounded, once again due to the inhibition of acidic/tannic elements. Sardines turned sweeter, but still had every bit of the fishiness they normally have.

It will be fun to take what we know and start working on some recipes. If anybody would like the tasting notes, don't hesitate... I'll have them finished by the end of the day. The tablets can be found online and they aren't that expensive. A lot of fun for a cocktail party or coursed fix prixe! Beware, though, you really are eating all that stuff... consider the tummy-ache a badge of courage. :twisted:
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carla griffin

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by carla griffin » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:25 am

Stephen this sounds really cool. How exactly does the fruit change one's perception of taste? How does it 'deaden' sour?
Carla
There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will. ~Robert Frost
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Steve Cecil

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by Steve Cecil » Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:38 pm

I was wondering the same thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

"The berry contains an active glycoprotein molecule, with some trailing carbohydrate chains, called miraculin.[5][6] When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, this molecule binds to the tongue's taste buds, causing bitter and sour foods to taste sweet. While the exact cause for this change is unknown, one hypothesis is that the effect may be caused if miraculin works by distorting the shape of sweetness receptors "so that they become responsive to acids, instead of sugar and other sweet things."[3] This effect lasts between thirty minutes and two hours."

It sounds like a fun party to throw!
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carla griffin

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by carla griffin » Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:43 pm

Soooo... it sounds as if it acts as a sensory blocker rather than altering the makeup of the food itself.
Fun!
Carla
There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will. ~Robert Frost
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Stephen D

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by Stephen D » Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:57 pm

Essentially.

One thing we noticed is that the effects of the fruit do have thier limits. Kool aid (out of the packs that you have to add sugar too) is virtually unaffected. Apple cider vinegar tastes like malt vinegar. It seems that there has to be some form of sugar present in the ingredient for the 'sweet transformation' to work.

It is pretty wild, though!
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Adam Dever

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by Adam Dever » Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:44 pm

A friend of mine just turned me on to this sight.... sorry I missed the tasting. I am familar with the miracle fruit but have had a hard time trying to locate a source for the fruit. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thx
Adam
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Stephen D

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by Stephen D » Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:52 am

Google 'miracle fruit tablets' and take your pick. The fruit itself is at a premium atm. As the tree takes 2-3 years to really fruit, expect a minute for the new plantings to catch up to the increased demand insofar as the raw product goes. Have fun!
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John B

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by John B » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:03 am

Hello,
I think I can help. My friend told me about a Miracle Fruit Party that he went to. He gave me a tablet to taste, it was interesting experience, but the thing that disturbed me was the package, it looked, hmm...how to say it..strange (green, written in chinese) :roll: . After that I went to Google and typed in Miracle Fruit. I found the web page http://www.miraclefruitworld.com. I was surprised that they have tablets, called Miracle Frooties, and in 2 different sizes. I liked the package. Bold as I am, I choose bigger size, and boy was I surprised :lol:
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Laura T

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Re: Miracle Fruit Tasting

by Laura T » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:13 am

I'm so intrigued about this stuff and I can't WAIT to host a flavor-tripping party. OMG how fun! :)

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