This kind of activity is totally up my alley. I rarely turn down an experience that broadens my horizons and makes me view the world through a new lens, so I was looking forward to it. In advance of the workshop, I read up on miracles berries to see what to expect. In retrospect, I think it would have been better to know nothing at all so the results could be less biased. Reading that sour foods tasted sweeter after eating these berries potentially skewed my taste perception. That being said, like most people in our class, lemons, limes and kumquats all tasted sweeter. Usually I wince when I eat these foods but the taste was so sweet and pleasant that I was able to maintain a calm facial expression. Additionally, I was able to keep the food in my mouth longer without swallowing, which wasn’t the best idea because the acidic nature of it seems to have made my teeth and gums more sensitive. Meals later in the day were a bit painful to chew on.
I definitely would not want foods to taste like this all the time or even once a year, which would be too often. I like sour foods and would not want to lose that flavor. The activity is useful in the sense that it shows the way we perceive the world is just one of many possible permutations. I don’t need to be reminded of that once a year. Once every 5 years seems like a better cadence.
If I did this again, I would want to be more mindful of the order in which I eat the foods. Going from most to least mild flavor would be ideal. I made the mistake of eating a jalapeño with a bunch of seeds early on which was a flavor explosion in my mouth. Foods afterward were harder to distinguish so I missed out a bit. Lastly, I would definitely want to try some hot sauce. 🙂