I found this little plant (Acmella oleracea) in a tray of wilty herb seedlings at the supermarket. Never having heard of it, I thought I’d buy it as not, and stuck it in a pot. It’s growing beautifully, obviously appreciating the heat and my diligent watering. I read a bit about it, and was intrigued by the idea that eating the flower would have some strange effect on my mouth.
Well, today I nibbled on a leaf. (It has a few closed buds, but they’re quite small, and I’d read that the leaves are also edible, used in salads.) At first it was just vaguely vegetal, not unpleasant. Then, a few moments later, bang! I was grinning like a loon as suddenly my mouth felt cold, then fizzy, then watery. It was almost like the opposite of eating hot pepper. Different again than Sichuan peppercorn. The weirdness lasted about five minutes. I drank a bit of water, and tried a bite of pineapple, but it didn’t seem to change the taste, unlike miracle fruit.
Looking forward to trying a flower when they get bigger. Has anyone else tried this? It’s apparently a bit of a trend in hipster cocktails.
