The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot [Hardcover]

Chip Brantley (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 21, 2009

The creation story of the “perfect fruit,” delving into the world of the demanding farmers, brilliant obsessives, and food fanatics who create the fruits we love.

Is it possible to create the perfect piece of fruit—a fruit that cannot be improved upon? Since the dawn of agriculture, people have been obsessively tinkering to develop fruits that are hardier, prettier, and better tasting. Today, consumers have sophisticated palates and unparalleled access to the best fruits from around the world, and many of them believe that in California’s San Joaquin Valley, a fruit breeder may have developed the perfect fruit: a sweet, juicy, luscious plum-apricot hybrid known as a pluot.

In The Perfect Fruit, Chip Brantley goes in search of what it takes to trick nature into producing gustatory greatness—and to bring it to a market near you. The story begins with Floyd Zaiger, a humble and wily octogenarian who is arguably the greatest fruit breeder in the world. From there, it stretches both back and forward: back through a long line of visionaries, fruit smugglers, and mad geniuses, many of whom have been driven to dazzling extremes in the pursuit of exotic flavors; and forward through the ranks of farmers, scientists, and salesmen who make it their life’s work to coax deliciousness out of stubborn and unpredictable plants. The result is part biography, part cultural history, and part horticultural inquest—a meditation on the surprising power of food to change the way we live.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a conversion experience at the Los Angeles farmers' market where he first tasted the sweet, succulent plum-apricot hybrid known as a pluot, freelance food writer Brantley embarked on this tasty exploration of the stone-fruit industry. In his telling, it is that rare acre of American agriculture that still has room for independents, like legendary fruit breeder Fred Zaiger, whose epic labors—he waits years to learn whether a new hybrid will be edible or growable—sparked an industry shift toward fruit that actually tastes good. Brantley delves into the complicated, sometimes cut-throat world of the San Joaquin Valley's family fruit growers and marketers, squeezed by rising costs and ever more powerful and demanding retailers, always angling for the Summer Passionate consumer segment of lifestyle epicureans. In his chronicle of the 2007 growing season, their livelihoods hang on the unpredictable whims of nature and marketplace; perfect weather yields a delicious crop, yet the fickle Summer Passionates refuse to buy. The light-handed tome is more of a snack than a banquet, but Brantley's engaging mixture of agronomy, reportage and food porn—When I bit into it, it felt almost liquid, like plum jelly—goes down easy. (Aug.)
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Review

“After a conversion experience at the Los Angeles farmers’ market where he first tasted the sweet, succulent plum-apricot hybrid known as a pluot... Brantley embarked on this tasty exploration of the stone-fruit industry... Brantley’s engaging mixture of agronomy, reportage and food porn... goes down easy.”  —Publishers Weekly

“Chip Brantley has written a classic account of a modern fruit. The telling is sharp-eyed and droll, and like all great books about food, The Perfect Fruit has as much to do with the people behind the food as it does with the food itself. Brantley's love for his subject is so infectious that even if you've never experienced the pleasure of a perfectly ripe pluot before, you'll get plenty of pleasure from this book.” —Julian Rubinstein, author of Ballad of the Whiskey Robber

"Not interested in fruit breeding? I thought I wasn't. But Chip Brantley brings such passionate curiosity to the subject--and to the machinations of the growers, the technicalities of pollination, even the politics of marketing blocs—that the world of the pluot becomes a whole world, replete with heroes, villains, tragedies, and triumphs." —Thomas McNamee, author of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse

"Do I dare to eat a peach? Chip Brantley answers Prufrock’s existential question with a belly-satisfying yes. And dare to eat a pluot called Dinosaur Egg or Dapple Dandy, too. Bite into The Perfect Fruit and savor the sweetness and the bitterness, the love and the rivalry, that flows through the food that sustains us.” —D. J. Waldie, author of Holy Land

"This book is a love affair, or rather two: with pluots and the author's wife. Chock full of wonderful, besotted information on plums and other stone fruits, it is an invaluable reference and pleasure.”—Barbara Kafka, author of Vegetable Love and Roasting: A Simple Art, winner of the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award

“At the core of The Perfect Fruit is a ‘flavor revolution,’ a shift in American tastes toward quality and flavor and away from plentiful, but tasteless commodities. Chasing the story of these luscious new fruit hybrids, Brantley comes face to face with a fundamental change in the way we eat.” —Robb Walsh, author of Sex, Death, and Oysters

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (July 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596913819
• ISBN-13: 978-1596913813
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #909,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chip Brantley wrote The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot (Bloomsbury USA, 2009) and is at work on a second book, The Pistachio Wars. A founder of the Desert Island Supply Co. and Cookthink.com, Brantley has contributed to many publications, including Slate, Gourmet, Gastronomica and the Oxford American. Brantley works as the senior lecturer in emerging media in the department of journalism at the University of Alabama. He lives in Birmingham and is married to the poet Elizabeth Hughey.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the perfect book about The Perfect Fruit August 13, 2009

By Elton B. Stephens III

Format:Hardcover

Perhaps written in the tradition of Michael Pollan and Mark Kurlansky's seemingly single subject books (though refreshingly differently), Brantley's book is an excellent read. He manages to take a subject and a fruit that might not even come to mind in the produce section of the grocery store, and give it its due in a personal, even alluring way. I highly recommend The Perfect Fruit, and plan on picking up several copies as gifts this holiday season myself.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a pleasant surprise! August 10, 2009

By Robin Seale

Format:Hardcover

I was curious to find out about how an entire book dedicated to one somewhat rare fruit would turn out. WOW! The book not only makes you want to go directly to the supermarket and buy a basket of this interesting and delicious fruit, but it makes you appreciate just about ANYTHING you might have passion for. Chip Brantley uses humor, unbelievable insight and a great deal of research to make a seemingly ordinary subject come to life. The real success of this book is that I wasn't sure I was even interested in the subject and then was brought into this wonderful world that the author gladly let me into.

His love of life, his love of food and the deep love he has for his wife make this book not just an "expert's view' of a pluot. It makes it a wonderful story that is a must for anyone who appreciates beauty...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hidden Gem August 10, 2009

By Stymo99

Format:Hardcover

What a surprisingly delightful read! Whether you consider yourself a "foodie" (or perhaps, in this case, a "fruity") or not, Mr. Brantley's unbridled curiosity, humorous insight, and unabashed dedication to the pursuit of that which he does not yet know will truly inspire you to think differently; not only about fruit, but also, in a very comforting and whimsical manner, about life... I really enjoyed this gem of a book.