Awesome things in the news:
A Tiny Fruit That Tricks the Tongue
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.”
HOW’S IT DO THAT? Franz Aliquo, who calls himself Supreme Commander, right, supplied miracle berries grown by Curtis Mozie, left, to party-goers in Long Island City, Queens, last weekend.
Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times
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.
The host was Franz Aliquo, 32, a lawyer who styles himself Supreme Commander (Supreme for short) when he’s presiding over what he calls “flavor tripping parties.” Mr. Aliquo greeted new arrivals and took their $15 entrance fees. In return, he handed each one a single berry from his jacket pocket.
Teenager wins science fair by making plastic bags decompose in 3 months instead of 1000 years
Daniel Burd, an 11th grader at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, has discovered a way to make plastic bags degrade in as little as three months—a finding that won him first prize at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, a $20,000 scholarship, and a chance to revolutionize a major environmental issue.
Burd’s strategy was simple: Since plastic does eventually degrade, it must be eaten by microorganisms. If those microorganisms, as well as the optimal conditions for their growth, could be identified, we could put them to work eating the plastic much faster than under normal conditions.
Thanks to for the first article. We both think tasting parties are an awesome idea.
I’m planning to get a bunch of those and hold a party, actually. I’ll let you know when I do.
I would be delighted.
I am looking up pricing RIGHT NOW.
I’ll be there.
You know we all want to try this out!
I totally want to try this too.
This sounds fascinating. I would be interested in seeing how this fruit would effect hot foods such as Thai Peppers.
I am fascinated by this fruit! how neat! I am a fruit connoisseur though…
tasting parties are a neat idea. Actually I have been seeing a lot of high tea steampunk events documented online, and I think that would be so much fun, something so elegant about it…
I saw that article! The book mentioned in it — The Fruit Hunters — is what I picked up last night. It is excellent thus far.
I heard about those berries on the BBC. I guess there was an attempt in the 70s to get them approved for use as sweeteners in the US, due to the fact that they’re healthier than sugar and artificial ones. But the FDA shot the guy down suddenly, and his notes were ransacked and stolen…so the implication is that he made some powerful enemies.
That’ll teach people to exist before portable USB drives.
The FDA, in a rare departure from normal behavior, has never released their justification for their decision. There are rumors that they were fed money big Big Sugar companies.
I am totally freaking out about that plastic bag story! That is SO COOL! I just forwarded it to my entire family. I’m so glad you posted that!
No problem, I’m glad you appreciate it :D
That’s just amazingly neat.
Here’s a couple sites that have information about purchasing the fruit:
$1 per fruit
http://www.barzelay.net/archives/2007/02/miracle_fruit_provider.php
$2 per fruit but simpler ordering
http://miraclefruitman.com/
Oh and here’s the WikiPedia entry (like you can’t look it up)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit
give that info to theferrett and ttlatoani!
I contacted the second site today–they are already significantly back-ordered. The berries come fresh, but can be frozen for up to three months.
Re the plastic thing, someone needs to go read “Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters”. SF story in a nutshell: Someone finds/breeds the microorganism that digests plastic. Hooray! It gets out, and everything plastic is eaten and decomposes. Boo.
Hey, it could happen!
Mmm, sense-hacking.