Lemon wedge with a crushed Miracle Berry Tablet made by Chef Homaro Cantu that makes anything acidic taste delightfully sweet. It made this lemon taste like the most delicious candy I have ever had.
Chef Homaro Cantu’s family was homeless for much of his childhood, and the majority of his diet consisted of food served at homeless shelters. Cantu developed a taste for unhealthy foods high in sugar and fat, and noticed that the rest of America seemed to have the same problem.
In 2010 he opened iNG with the aim of recreating some of his favourite bad-for-you foods using the healthiest ingredients. One of the things that aids him in that effort is the Miracle Berry, which comes from a West African plant called Synsepalum Dulcificum (a.k.a. Miracle Fruit) and which, when eaten, causes sour foods to taste sweet. Guests are given a pill devised by Cantu that is made up of the crushed berry, that comes on a small tray along with several other edible items. The most important item on this tray is the lemon wedge. The idea is to taste each item on the tray, eat the miracle berry, then taste each one again. When the previously sour lemon starts to taste like candy, the berry has taken effect. Cantu refers to this effect as ‘Flavor Tripping’.
Despite Chef Cantu’s delicious culinary efforts, nothing could possibly compare to the taste of the amazingly delicious lemon slice. The Miracle Berry literally makes lemons into lemonade. I tried the lemon before taking the pill, and it was as sour as a lemon should be. But after the pill it turned into something else completely; it was like biting into a sweet, sugar-coated lemon jelly slice that still has the texture of a nice juicy natural lemon. It was so good, I’m tempted to order some of those pills and serving a bag of lemons for dessert at a dinner party.
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