GONE are the days of monotonous fruit choice at the local grocer. In addition to your standard varieties of apples, oranges and bananas, an entire subset of genetically engineered stone fruits has emerged as the next wave in produce, as Chip Brantley realised when he first encountered the pluot – ¾ plum, ¼ apricot – at a Los Angeles farmer’s market. Brantley was so captivated by its taste that he dropped everything and set out to investigate what he believed to be the perfect fruit.
Brantley’s search led him to central California’s San Joaquin valley, home to roughly 90 per cent of the world’s commercial stone fruit crops. The San…
