Asaba - The Miracle Fruit

One of my favorite things about Ghana (apart from the kids) is the delicious fresh fruit that grows so abundantly. There were mango and coconut trees in our front yard. The pineapple is absolutely divine. You will never find such a succulent pineapple in the US. There is also a small red berry the Ghanaians call asaba. After chewing this fruit, sour and bitter foods taste sweet for several hours. I ate a whole lemon as if it were an orange. And it tasted delicious! I must warn you, do not eat asaba if you are planning on eating anything else sweet. Drinking fruit juice and eating a grapefruit was very unpleasant afterwards - too sweet! Wikipedia explains that this works because a molecule asaba contains called miraculin binds to the tongue's taste buds and possibly distorts the sweetness receptors, making them react to bitter and sour flavors.