EclectEcon

BenS sent me this link, to a NYTimes piece about a fruit which seems to cross-wire the tastebuds to make sour things taste sweeter.

Carrie Dashow dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a “chocolate shake.”

Those who attended sampled the red berries then tasted foods, including cheese, beer and brussels sprouts, finding the flavors transformed. Beer can taste like chocolate, lemons like candy. Mr. Aliquo says he holds the parties to “turn on a bunch of people’s taste buds.”

Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!”

They were among 40 or so people who were tasting under the influence of a small red berry called miracle fruit at a rooftop party in Long Island City, Queens, last Friday night. The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

As much as I like sweet-tasting things, I'm not sure I would like using this berry, at least not on a regular basis. I like to know what I'm doing with my body; I like to be in touch with what is happening to it (see this). I'm not sure I want to relinquish that sense of control. And certainly not on a regular basis.

However, at only $2-$3 per berry, I could readily imagine using one before going to some people's homes for dinner...