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Sourest Day

Fun · Food · October 25

A day for sour flavors: lemons, pickles, sour candy, vinegar and the puckered face that comes with them.

Sourest Day falls on Monday, October 25, 2027. That is 363 days away.

Sour is one of the basic tastes the tongue can detect, sitting alongside sweet, salty, bitter and savory. It comes mostly from acids, like the citric acid in lemons and limes or the acetic acid in vinegar. Sourest Day is given over to that sharp, bright flavor and to the foods that carry it best.

The list is longer than it first seems. Lemons and limes are the obvious ones, but there are also pickles, sauerkraut, yogurt, sourdough bread, green apples, cranberries, tamarind and the coated candies that make people squint. Many of these get their tang from fermentation, where bacteria turn sugars into acid and change the flavor along the way.

People tend to mark the day by eating something sour on purpose. Some hold an informal contest with friends to see who can eat a sour candy without flinching. Others take a gentler route with a glass of lemonade, a plate of pickles or a slice of sourdough toast. Cooks know that a squeeze of citrus or a splash of vinegar can wake up a dish that tastes flat, so a sour ingredient often ends up doing quiet work in a soup or a salad dressing.

The puckered face is part of it too. The mouth makes extra saliva when it meets acid, which is why a lemon wedge can make your jaw ache before you even bite.

Ways to celebrate

• Try a sour fruit you have never eaten, like tamarind or a green gooseberry.
• Hold a sour candy challenge with friends and see who flinches first.
• Add a squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar to tonight's dinner.
• Make a pitcher of homemade lemonade with more lemon than usual.
• Look for a local bakery's sourdough loaf and taste the tang.

Dates

All national days on October 25

Also on October 25

• National Greasy Foods Day
• World Pasta Day
• Visit a Cemetery Day

Categories: Fun daysFood days