Norris. Leverone. Thursday, May 17 from 11-5. BE THERE or miss out on the chance to have your mind blown.
But seriously. Spoon is hosting a miracle berry sale and if you want to experience eating a lemon that tastes sugary sweet, you should stop by. The miracle berry is a small, unassuming red fruit originally grown in Africa which just happens to have what we would call magical powers: taste changing properties that change the taste of sour foods to sweet, sugary heaven. The magical ingredient is actually a glycoprotein molecule called miraculin (yes, very clever), which causes the wacky change in taste by binding to certain taste buds on the tongue. The exact science behind it is still unknown, but it is hypothesized that miraculin works by distorting the shape of sweetness receptors on the tongue so that they become responsive to acids instead of sugar.
The miraculin in the actual berry starts to diminish immediately after harvesting, but today special miracle berry tablets exist, which are 100 percent natural pills made by freeze-drying the berry. This process preserves the miraculin, and as a result each tablet contains the miraculin extract of three actual miracle berries.
If you can believe it, the earliest account we have of the miracle berry craze is from 1725. French explorer Chevalier des Marchais recorded that West Indian tribes were eating this little red gem as a pre-meal snack so that some of their traditional sour or bland dishes, like cornbread and gruel, would taste sweet and full of flavor.
According to mberry.us, the world’s leading producer, distributor and promoter of miracle berry products, people who have used the miracle berry tablets have reported that “Guinness tastes like chocolate milkshake, vinegar tastes like treacle, and tomatoes taste like peaches.” So come by on Thursday and join us on the food trip.