A question was once asked could a West African wild berry change everything as far as dieting and the future of food. Well, there was a big YES from Homaro Cantu, Jr.. However, before we get deep into this wild berry from West Africa, let’s get a little information on Homaro Cantu, Jr..
Homaro Cantu, Jr., was born on September 23, 1978, and was an American Chief who was well known for his inventions. His main invention being the use of molecular gastronomy. He loved science and engineering as a kid. And, he found that there were many similarities between science and cooking.
This influenced his decision to become a chef. Chef Charlie Trotter was a Chicago chef who Homaro Cantue, Jr. idolized. His dreams must have come true when he was hired by his idol, Chef Trotter. Yes, he got hired by a Chef he idolized.
By 2003 Homaro Cantu, Jr. became a chef of Moto. Actually, he was Mott’s first Chef and he later went on to become the owner of Moto when he purchased it. He was able to explore and try different and unusual ideas about cooking. The edible menus and carbonated fruit were some of the different and unusual ideas; not to mention, the laser cooked food.
At first, Moto was considered a novelty but soon became important and likable by earning critical praise. It became a Michelin star. Homaro Cantu, Jr. went on to open another restaurant called ING and he also opened a coffee house called Berrista. He continued to experiment more and gained more and more knowledge about food.
He began to use and test different foods. And, later began to consider the various properties of foods. These properties were tested in different ways of preparation. While doing unique experiments with foods, he was able to get media attention and he became a media personality. He appeared a lot on Television shows. He produced a show in 2010 which was titled Future Food.
While working with a patient who had cancer and who had actually lost her sense of taste due to chemotherapy, he found wild berries. With these wild berries, Cantu began to explore and search the plant. He took the plant to the test kitchen to seek what he could do. He nicknamed the wild berries, the miracle berry.
The miracle berry is organic and is not genetically modified. It has a protein known as miraculin. This protein, miraculin, attaches onto the taste buds’ sour receptors and temporarily stops the taste of sour flavors. It also changes the flavors in spicy and salty foods; in addition, it changes bitter foods also. Think of a glass of lemon water tasting like lemonade after having the miracle berry pill. Yes, making that regular glass of water that has lemon in it taste like a sweet glass of lemonade is a miracle within itself.
Chef Cantu appeared on Good Morning America to talk about the miracle berries. On that show, he stated that the miracle berries tricks the tongue into thinking something that is actually sour seems sweet. He wrote a cookbook entitled, “The Miracle Berry Diet Cookbook.
In the book he writes that the miracle berries could help in eliminating and getting rid of sugar and sweeteners from a diet. He developed hundreds of recipes that use less sugar and substitute the berries instead for added flavor.