Books

The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession
By Adam Leith Gollner, Scribner, 2008, 279 pp.

Some real nut jobs rattle around in the world of fruit.

Adam Leith Gollner paints some vivid portraits of the extremes to which they will go to find, eat and perpetuate fruit worthy of the most effusive poetry.

One enthusiast is a grafter. Gollner writes that because Crafton Clift (nicknamed Graftin' Crafton) "has been caught in the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden climbing trees and grafting different species together, security now forces him to leave his knives and grafting implements at the door."

Others risk huge fines and even jail time bringing forbidden fruits into the country from other more exotic locales. Gollner himself, who lives in Montreal, brought some mangosteens into New York City to share with friends, not realizing they are illegal in the United States.

But in the course of traveling the world to research this book, he did intentionally break the law by bringing part of an endangered coco-de-mer (the "lady fruit" that looks eerily like a woman's private parts — Gollner devotes several intriguing chapters to it) into Canada from the Seychelles.

In their defense, developed countries do have a vital interest in keeping out certain fruits. Fruit-fly infestations or citrus canker can hijack immigrant fruit, wiping out huge crops and costing growers billions of dollars.

On the other hand, governments sometimes have other reasons for prohibiting certain fruits from crossing their borders. For instance, Indian mangoes were banned in the United States for nearly 30 years, Gollner writes, most likely thanks to nuclear nonproliferation politics, or "mango diplomacy."

The Fruit Hunters is a fascinating compendium that introduces novices to the world of fruit. It defines fruit, describes a bit of its history and, of course, shares stories of those who are passionate about it.

Most readers will be stunned to discover the dizzying variety of fruits that populate the world, especially since we in the United States only get a tiny selection in our grocery stores. Gollner relates that "only a tiny fraction of fruit diversity is for sale: 90 percent of the foods we eat derive from only thirty plant species."

Sadly, in reading The Fruit Hunters, ignorant bliss turns to more knowing disappointment. The luscious, juicy descriptions of wildly delicious fruit bacchanalia serve to heighten the reader's appetite, tempting with a taste sensation that is almost literally out of this world, but just out of reach. Supermarket fruits, so homogenized and tasteless compared to fresh-picked but delicate varieties, just have to do.

At least it is consoling to know that we today get to eat fruit on a regular basis. Just 50 years ago, it was much less available.

The "surge in availability" has come at the expense of "decreased quality." On the upside, Gollner concludes that "in many ways, we're entering a golden age of fruits. And the produce section will be getting even more interesting in coming years as innovative breeders and growers continue to focus on flavor and as shoppers rediscover seasonality."

In tasting these amazing fruits vicariously, I have to admit I am most interested in having the miracle fruit brought to wide distribution here in America. The berry itself doesn't have a particularly striking taste, but it miraculously and giddyingly sweetens anything sour or tart eaten within half an hour to an hour.

The Japanese have embraced this miracle. Cafés serve the fruits before customers sample a range of sour foods that then taste amazingly sweet. "Cake and tea for two comes to about 25 dollars but has one-fifth the calories of a normal dessert." That's my kind of dieting! Gollner relates a long tale of how miracle fruit's distribution has been stymied in the United States, very possibly involving some very shady deals.

The Fruit Hunters is a colorful tale of a food that most of us take for granted and the wacky and equally colorful characters who devote their lives to it. Gollner makes his book fascinating and hard to put down, a surprisingly fun read for a season we tend to think of as filled with fruit. But you won't know the half of it until you read this.