Sunday, February 08, 2009

Host Your Own Miracle Fruit Party

What's a miracle fruit? The West African berry known scientifically as "Synsepalum dulcificum" causes sour foods to taste sweet, or salty foods to taste tartly sweet. Miracle Fruit doesn't change a food's chemical makeup, just the perception of taste (Wikipedia). This odd little berry makes for a great hosting opportunity with little clean up and at an affordable cost.

5 tips to make your Miracle Fruit Party Miraculous!
1) Use Evite.com to send specialized invitations and include links to the New York Times Miracle Fruit story (NY Times) or to the store you're purchasing from (www.miraclefruitworld.com, www.miraclefruittab.com).

2) Ask that each guest bring an item to taste! With Evite.com all attendees can browse the offerings -- this way not everyone brings lemons, Tabasco sauce and olives!

3) Schedule your party during the after-lunch or after-dinner time of a weekend day, this way people don't fill their tum up with acidic or spicy foods! You can even include a note cautioning party goers to eat before they come as only "limited refreshments" will be available.

4) Order online and early! Fresh Miracle Fruit's availability depends on the season and once arrived has a short shelf life so plan your "flavor tripping" party accordingly.

5) Consider freeze-dried Miracle Fruit or even Miracle Fruit tablets, they're just as good as the berry and last longer in the freezer!