Trends in the Glass

There's an interesting article in the New York Times this week on the well-marketed hype behind the acai berry, a purple fruit found on a South American palm tree that has been awarded "superfood" status by a small group of advertising executives and online peddlers of miracle foods. I first became aware of acai a few years back, when the Brazilian-run smoothie stores in downtown Ocean Beach started plastering their walls with glossy posters trumpeting the perceived benefits of this antioxidant-stuffed berry. I seem to recall a magazine article in which the acai berry was used to explain why "all Brazilians look so hot and athletic" or something along those lines - a puff piece clearly written by somebody whose knowledge of Brazil stems less from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and more from Adriana Lima photo spreads inside the pages of Victoria's Secret. I've tried acai juices a few times from our local co-op - tasty, in a grape cough-syrup kind of way, and hardly worth the $3.95 for a little over 1 serving's worth. But it seems that others have been taking the claims made about acai far more seriously, with hopes that the antioxidants inside will extend their lifespan, shrink their waistlines and remove their facial wrinkles.

The NYTimes article states that in 2004, 4 products could be found stateside incorporating the wonder berry in some form. By 2008, that number had grown to 53. These included not just beverages like juices and smoothies, but supplements and facial creams. The rather high prices, it seemed, did little to counter the extravagant claims being made. Even that old huckster Oprah Winfrey got into the act, loudly braying the benefits of acai both on her show and prominently on her website until some negative publicity led to her just as forcefully denying any endorsement of any acai product. The linked article goes into the reasons for this, which seem to have something to do with the sudden explosion of fly-by-night acai operations suckering wide-eyed consumers into enrolling in "free trial" acai weight loss programs that actually ran balances every month. Despite the fact that only a few studies on acai berry benefits have been conducted, and that even those few have been determined inconclusive (and none have suggested weight loss or increased life span benefits), the hope of a liquid miracle - the fountain of youth available through a straw - dies hard.

I'm wondering if there's any way to spin the beverage I tried yesterday into some kind of superfood advertising campaign - a sure-fire protection against hyponatremia, for instance. I met with Jane and our friends Sean and Chris at a locals-only Vietnamese restaurant in one of the less-sketchy areas of National City yesterday, and upon flipping to the back of the menu to scout out the authentic specialties came across something called Soda Xi Muoi, or, as they helpfully translated it, "Salty Plum Soda". Having no clue as to what a "salty plum soda" might taste like, I ordered it. What arrived at the table moments later was a tall glass of semi-sparkling water with a brown collection of lumpy flakes hovering near the bottom. Sean wondered aloud if that was some kind of rotting egg. I suspected somebody had dipped a mason jar into a nearby stagnant pond. But after swirling the spoon around for a few minutes, I determined that the briny brown matter was actually some kind of fermented plum, and so I gave the concoction a taste.

I can report to you now that a "salty plum soda" tastes exactly like it sounds - fermented plum in a glass of salt water. Looking around the Internet, I see that Soda Xi Muoi is quite popular in Vietnamese restaurants and even some Malaysian restaurants, and one fan posted their homemade recipe for the drink online, incorporating store bought umeboshi. I'm of the opinion that I get enough sodium throughout my day already, and thought my "salty plum soda" tasted a bit like something sitting on a counter after being halfway cleaned using a biodegradable soap. But it was a lot cheaper than any acai juice. Somebody alert Oprah.