轉載自《休士頓記事報》網站 ～ November 21, 2008

Meet the Miracle Berry-----and its local impresario,  Jenny Wang

Misha Govshteyn The miracle berry.

I guess you could say Houstonian Jenny Wang is like Johnny Appleseed 2.0. She styles herself the "berry fairy" a reference to the West African fruit Synsepalum dulcificum--the so-called "Miracle Berry" that interferes with your taste receptors so that sour or bitter foods like lemons, vinegar, beer or Brussels sprouts all taste...sweet. "Guinness stout tastes like chocolate milk; is just one of the enticements Wang uses to lure converts to her events.

Recently, Wang has staged two big, sold-out Miracle Berry parties that were open to the public. A third is scheduled for this Sunday at 4:30 pm, at Washington Avenue club The Social. Officially, it's already sold out; but Wang tells me she is likely to secure some additional berries from her supplier, which means more places may open up at the last minute.

Katharine Shilcutt Gleave Jenny Wang wants you to experience the Miracle Berry.

Here's what you get for your $35 ticket: one miracle berry; a buffet of foodstuffs and beverages upon which to try out the berry's effects; and a selection of boutique beers including Guinness stout, which may or may not end up tasting like chocolate milk to you.

If an evening of flavor-tripping intrigues you, check Wang's Web site or email her through her food blog at imneverfull@gmail.com , to see if she can work you in at the last minute. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until her next berry extravaganza. The parties have drawn a mix of folks who--like Wang herself--are active on the Houston Chowhounds message boards. Some are part of the growing local contingent of food bloggers, and you can check out two very different takes on the Miracle Berry experience at Houstonist and the rather more dyspeptic Tasty Bits. As you will see, the berry affects various palates...variously.

As for me, intellectually I am curious. Perversely, too. But there is a primitive, superstitious part of me that has hung back from messing too much with my palate, upon which my livelihood has depended for decades. It's kinda like my reluctance, back in my wilder days, to drop acid when folks I knew were singing the praises of LSD. I wasn't sure I'd make it back from the trip in one piece.

What if the effects of the Miracle Berry didn't wear off on me after the usual two hours were up? It would be just my luck to end up as a freak of science, or nature. And I'd be out of a job.

So party on, chowhounds. Send a postcard. I'm sitting this one out.

女兒 Jenny 設立的休士頓美食評鑒網站  

http://imneverfull.blogspot.com/

名列休士頓紀事報的 "Blog Watch" 推薦榜

～ since Monday, August 18, 2008

【延伸閱讀】 Miracle Berry 神秘果

神秘果屬於山欖科多年生矮生灌木，原產西非熱帶地區，在中國廣東、廣西、雲南、海南等地都有種植。樹高1至2米，葉片革質常綠，神秘果的花在枝條上著生，小漿果外表光滑，未熟時青裏帶紅，直徑0．6至1cm似咖啡豆，成熟時呈橙紅色，果實尾端有一根較強的小鋼毛，只有一層薄薄的果肉，果肉酸澀，但內有含氮糖苷(一種生物鹼，又叫變味素)，所以其遇酸性物質和酶時水解產生糖，吃了神秘果半小時內再吃酸性食品，就會覺得很甜，故名神秘果。其樹形美觀，也可作盆景。

(取材自維基百科)