preMEDitated

I just tasted the much hyped miracle berry fruit. I already knew it would turn all things sour into sweet, but my experience of altered taste sensation felt almost otherworldly.


Miracle Berry Fruit

The miracle fruit otherwise known as Synspalum dulcificum was first used by tribes in West Africa. They ate the berries before they took their meals; which consisted of yams, sorghum, among other nasty stuff. Although documented by explorers such as Chevalier des Marchais among other individuals, it was unnoticed by everyone else until the Internet spread the news*.
After having obtained a berry through some bold means**, I solemnly held the fruit as I prepared to eat it. It was small and looked like a coffee berry. Then I ate it, making sure that the pulp made contact with as much of my tongue as possible. It tasted like a thin slice of Dragon fruit, unremarkable and forgettable. I wondered if the taste was because it was naturally bland or if it was due to its supposed miracle. Yet whatever questions regarding its effects flew from my mind as I soon experienced the miracle.

I quickly sliced a calamansi fruit and apprehensively prepared to squeeze the juice directly into my mouth. Filipinos know that such an act was an exercise in producing the characteristic sour face. Yet as the juice touched my tongue, I had an epiphany. My eyes brightened into what I thought was an impossible diameter as I mentioned the obvious. “Sweet,” I said.

Raw calamansi tasted like prepared calamansi juice with the usual several spoonfuls of sugar. A slight hint of sourness remained, but the taste was still distinctly calamansi. Soon onions, vinegar, dressings, tomato sauce, and some other stuff quickly had their turn with my mouth. All of them tasted sweeter, but some of them turned unpalatable as a result.
The thrill of altered sensation, however, lasted only a few minutes for me. I knew how the miracle worked its wonders***. I even experienced its miracle. Yet I could not help but feel maimed by the experience. It felt as if something was taken from me, as if I was bound and physically prevented from the potential of full experience.
After its effect wore off a few minutes later, I eagerly welcomed the return of the taste of Sour.

*If this is your first time to read about the miracle fruit, please don’t forget to thank the Internet for this information.
**Don’t ask. Let’s just say my parents would have received it then, but they were not around.
***The active ingredient miraculin alters the taste buds specializing with the taste of sourness.