MIRACLE FRUIT!

Heard of miracle fruit? Unless you are from Japan, West Africa or an internet news junkie chances are the answer is no.

This might be one of the best kept secrets of the 20th century! If you can get your hands on this stuff do it.

The fruit is actually called Miracle Fruit, and has been used for centuries in West Africa to make sour things taste sweet. Efforts to market the fruit in the United States seem to have been denyed by the FDA. For more information on the fruit itself, tab this puppy: miracle fruit

If you are lucky enough to get some miracle fruit, you’ll want to try it with every fruit you can get your hands on. Here’s a list of a few to get you started...

Miracle fruit works immediately after touching your tongue so be brave and dig in:

• Goat’s cheese - tastes like cream cheese frosting
• Blue cheese - $2 cheese tastes like $200 cheese
• Sourdough bread – not sure seems to be better, eat with your blue cheese
• Lemons, Limes – sweet!!
• Grapefruit – candy!
• Pomelo – not as good as grapefruit, but still great!
• Tomatoes – imagine life sized cherry tomatoes
• Honey Dew – brings out the soft subtle flavors
• Cantalope – like honey dew, one time with miracle fruit and you’re a fan of these fruits for life
• Granny Apple – best apple of your life
• Strawberries – makes bad berries good; right off the vine good
• Broccoli – amazingly the cooked stems taste like artichoke hearts
• Cabbage – cooked tastes great
• Mango – good
• Grapes – almost too sweet
• Pineapple – again almost too sweet
• Cherry – tasty but too sweet
• Rhubarb - (from WSJ - tastes like sugar stick)
  
• Lychee - one of our reader's favorites

Don’t try

• Ginger – very overpowering, miracle fruit doesn't help
• Radish – no difference in taste or intensity
  
• Coconut – has no taste
• Coffee - just heard it doesn't work
  

This is really one of those subtle life changing experiences. Not only will you gain a great appreciation for fruits and vegetables, but you will find yourself eating more of them even after the effects of the miracle fruit are gone.

List last updated: 15 March 2008