This weekend included a night of taste experimentation at a party that featured the mberry Miracle Berry tablet made from the berries of West African Synsepalum Dulcificum plant.  These berries contain a glycoprotein molecule that attaches to and coats the taste buds on your tongue so that the acids in the foods you eat become sweeter.

 While the berry and its effects have been known to exist since the 16th century, the berry in the U.S. did not start to gain popularity until 2008, when many people began to host "flavor tripping" parties.  Now, four years later, instead of having to eat the berry you can take a dissolving tablet and the effects will last from 90 minutes to 2 hours.  Honestly, I was hoping it wouldn't last that long because while fun at first, when everything you taste only gets sweeter, you end up not wanting to eat anymore because you are palate is not balanced with other desired tastes, like salt and sour.  At the party, we had a small buffet to choose from of suggested pairings.  Here's what I thought:

FRUIT
Lemons - lemondrop martini
Limes - margarita
Oranges - orange julius
Strawberries and Pineapple - like they had been dipped in spenda
Grapes - not much difference

OTHER
Goat cheese - greek yogurt
Blue cheese - tasteless for the most part, very light after taste
Sour cream - crème fraîche or unsweetened whipped cream
Vinegar - still tangy, but not quite as potent
Hot sauce - this was supposed to taste like a spicy glazed donut, but was just hot to me because I'm sensitive to spicy
Catsup - super sweetened tomato sauce
Cherry tomatoes - disgusting!
Salt and vinegar potato chips - I thought these were regular potato ships and was walking around amazed at the difference in taste, until someone set me straight