Determinations of a Future Archivist: Vegan Goodies and Flavor Tripping

For a change of pace for a Friday night, my ladyfriend and her hubby came over last night with miracle berry tablets in tow. While she is a vegan and he is a vegetarian and I'm a 3 week old pescatarian, we decided to share cooking before tasting of the fruits. She made a "baked pasta" using penne and tofu "ricotta" and vegan cheese. I made a "Fruit and Fiber salad"- mainly a red cabbage salad with carrots, dates,cannellini beans, apple, pear and a honey, orange juice vinaigrette. After we devoured the food it was time for tasting. The tablet was odd. You have to "slowly roll the tablet on your tongue and be careful not to swallow it whole". It tasted like cardboard and some other flavor that was familiar that neither me nor my ladyfriend could identify. Once dissolved we pounced on the food.

Here's the sampling:

Lemons- Really, truly taste like lemonade

Lime- Awesome limeade

Granny Smith Apples- I had sprinkled lemon juice over top so they wouldn't brown after I cut them. They tasted like lemon candied apples- probably my favorite

Grapefruit- A great substitution for when I used to eat a half a grapefruit with sugar for breakfast. So sweet and yummy.

Strawberries- The others enjoyed the strawberries. I'm creeped out by the taste and texture of berries, that I took a bite and that was enough for me.

Vanilla Porter- Tasted like Vanilla and Chocolate milkshake- the best of the drinks

Pecan Porter- We all decided that it was way too sweet. "It was like someone who doesn't like beer poured a crap-ton of sugar into the glass"~ ladyfriend's hubby

Gin and lemon juice- So by this point our miracle berry had worn off and my ladyfriend had prepared the largest shot of gin ever. We could only get through half of the drink when it felt like acid was burning off a layer of skin. We each quickly grabbed some tonic and poured a half of bottle into each glass to lessen the burn

Oranges- N/A- I realized after that we finished I had forgotten to cut any oranges. I'll just save them for breakfast for another day.

Vegan "Cheesecake" aka Silken tofu mixed with lemon and lime juice- It curdled and ended up tasting like sweet tofu. It was terrible pre-berry and post-berry.

So the tasting was pretty awesome. I would definitely do it again. We all agreed that for the time it took to dissolve the tablet compared to the time that the berry lasted was very unequal. It would be easier to pop in a tablet in the morning and let it dissolve while trying to get ready. Then you can snack on your candied grapefruit or lemon and enjoy a great dose of vitamin C for the day. Be prepared with some soothing lip balm and some antacid, that much citrus screws up your belly and burns the lips, but the kitchen smells quite nice.