The Perfect Fruit

The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot is an interesting book about growing plums and apricots and the industry that produces them.

When I was a kid, I remember eating apricots and plums as fast as I could get them.

When I got older as an adult, I did not like them as much and stopped eating them. At the time I assumed it was simply my changing tastes (I used to like liver as a child too. Go figure).

One of the most interesting things I got from the book was that it wasn't me, but the industry. During the 1980's, they started growing fruit that could ship well, but tasted poor. Now there is a resurgence in trying to breed plants that produce tasty fruit and ship well. I'm looking forward to the summer months now so I can check out some of these. Look for pluots (plum / apricot hybrid) for something at the higher end of the taste range.