ongbak/martial arts.

ongbak/martial arts.

CULTURE

Location: As an indoor plant, provide the plant with bright light such as a well lit window. In the summer the plant can be moved with care to a warm, lightly shaded spot.

Soils: An acid soil is a must for miracle fruit. They prefer a soil acidity of pH 4.5 to 5.8. This can be achieved by planting in equal parts Canadian acid peat and pine bark. Also peat and perlite mixes are said to give excellent result. In the basic soils of California, the plants slowly die back until virtually only the stems remain. Allow the roots of the plant to fill the container before transplanting into a larger one.

Irrigation: Be sure that the soil is well draining as the plants do not like to sit in wet soils. Coming from a tropical climate they need highly humid conditions. When indoors, especially during the winter months, a small clear plastic bag put around the plant and supported by wood or a wire frame is helpful in maintaining humidity. Also, placing the plant container on a tray with stones on the bottom and filled with water to the top of the stones will add humidity to the local area. Misting the leaves with good water also helps.

David Barzelay says:

Hi, I'm the guy who had the miracle fruit party and wrote the post to which you linked today. The guy from whom I got the miracle fruit grows the stuff in Ft. Lauderdale, and he charges actual overnight shipping plus $5 handling, and $1 per fruit. He'll also ship just the seeds, or the plants themselves. He said it was okay if I gave out his contact info, so I just posted it. Since earlier today, I've gotten almost sixty emails from people wanting to know where they could get some miracle fruit, so I figured you'd be interested in posting this info.

Also, by the way, the description in the original post says that our food blog is linked "above," but in fact you linked to the tipster's site. The link below ("Link") links to the correct blog, but to one of the posts, instead of to the index where readers can find both posts. You might just add a second link at the bottom, to the other post.

The miracle fruit thing was seriously awesome. Also, I love this blog . Thanks for the links.

Miracle fruit alters sense of taste

Jacob says: "Miracle fruit is an obscure fruit that alters one's sense of taste, masking bitter and especially sour flavors, causing lemons, limes, beers, and lots of other things to taste amazingly good. After reading about it on the Web and tracking down a source, my friend held an extensive tasting party. We wrote about the experience on our food blog, linked above. (The miracle fruit entries are the newest posts.)

"Alas, the FDA does not look well upon miracle fruit, having forbidden its marketing to diabetics in the 1970s. The stuff is hard to find."

Limes tasted like lime candy, lemons like lemonade, and meyer lemons and red grapefruit were some of the most tasty things I've ever eaten in my life. On the other hand, pineapples and kiwi were cloying, coffee was mostly unchanged, and wine was just plain disgusting.

Miracle Fruits Cafe

TOKYO - A Japanese cafe started serving up berries that make sour desserts sweet Tuesday, offering dieters the chance to indulge in snacks without piling on the calories.

The desserts at the Miracle Fruits Cafe in Tokyo contain almost no sugar and are unbearably sour, but come with a berry from the Synsepalum dulcificum plant — also known as miracle fruit — which make the sour desserts sweet to the taste, according to Namco Ltd., who runs the cafe.

"You could eat a whole lemon and it would taste sweet," Namco spokesman Yuko Tsukui said of the berries, which accompany desserts on the cafe's menu — all of which have less than 100 calories, or one-fifth that of normal cakes and puddings.The berry's juices affect the tongue for about 30 minutes to an hour and can be washed away with hot tea or water, Tsukui said.

Found in Western Africa, miracle berries contain the protein miraculin, which stimulates the tongue's taste buds and makes sour food and drinks taste sweet.

Though discovered centuries ago, miracle berries have not been widely marketed because they are easily perishable. But a Japanese supplier recently developed a way to freeze-dry the fruit, allowing for a stable supply of the berries, Tsukui said.