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In Search of the Perfect Peach: Why Flavour Holds the Answer to Fixing Our Food System
What makes a great-tasting tomato? Why do scarred greengages taste better? Is ‘eating local’ everything it’s cracked up to be?
The first bite of a perfectly ripe peach can be truly transformative – a joyful experience that stays with you forever. But, as Franco Fubini came to realise, flavour is a signifier of so much more than nostalgia. It has the power to change the way we grow, shop and eat – transforming the planet as well our palates.
From the citrus groves of Sicily to a knock-out taco in Mexico City, this is the story of how Franco’s pursuit of flavour led him on a journey to understand how this incredibly simple desire can lead to radical change. Having spent over two decades as the founder of Natoora, sourcing amazing flavour for some of the best kitchens and most demanding chefs in the world, Franco brings together his intimate experience of the supply chain in a book that shines a light on how flavour has dropped off our plates and how we can get it back.
Through flavour, a better future of food suddenly becomes one in which we are not only closer to nature and to the people who grow our food, but where we are also actively building seasonal diversity back into our diets, putting nutritious food on our plates and restoring the health of our soils.
Franco Fubini offers us a deeply optimistic vision of how we, as consumers, can follow flavour to fix the food system and bring joy to our every meal.
The first bite of a perfectly ripe peach can be truly transformative – a joyful experience that stays with you forever. But, as Franco Fubini came to realise, flavour is a signifier of so much more than nostalgia. It has the power to change the way we grow, shop and eat – transforming the planet as well our palates.
From the citrus groves of Sicily to a knock-out taco in Mexico City, this is the story of how Franco’s pursuit of flavour led him on a journey to understand how this incredibly simple desire can lead to radical change. Having spent over two decades as the founder of Natoora, sourcing amazing flavour for some of the best kitchens and most demanding chefs in the world, Franco brings together his intimate experience of the supply chain in a book that shines a light on how flavour has dropped off our plates and how we can get it back.
Through flavour, a better future of food suddenly becomes one in which we are not only closer to nature and to the people who grow our food, but where we are also actively building seasonal diversity back into our diets, putting nutritious food on our plates and restoring the health of our soils.
Franco Fubini offers us a deeply optimistic vision of how we, as consumers, can follow flavour to fix the food system and bring joy to our every meal.
- GenresFoodNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 2024
23 people are currently reading
352 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 9, 2025
Until the 1950s, agriculture had followed a similar pattern year after year. Some technologies had improved the way that the farmer worked the land, tractors for example, but mostly it was the same. But it all changed in the 1950s. This was the time that the first supermarkets began to open, and it was their rise in buying power that changed the farming landscape and made industrial farming a thing.
Gone was the attribute of flavour; instead, supermarket buyers wanted standardisation, robustness when being transported and cheap prices. It had taken 12,000 years, but the desire for flavour had gone, and since the 1950s, nutritional values in foods have declined dramatically as these policies have mostly taken over the food system. The ubiquitous availability of all foods all year round means that we have lost all notion of seasons.
Understanding our planet and remembering our connection to nature is essential if we are to see the seasons as a precursor to us.
Fubini set up his company, Natoora, after seeing a lady who walked into a food store one December demanding peaches and could not understand why they didn't have any available. He specialised in providing top-quality fruit and veg to high-end restaurants with the emphasis on flavour. And with flavour, you get nutrients, animals instinctively know what minerals they are deficient in and will look to find a plant that has those, and will eat it until their internal balance is restored.
It is as much the locality as it is the variety that determines the flavour, hence the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Fubini writes about oranges and olives that come from a specific area of Sicily that can trace their origins back to the 8th or 9th century bc. I learn about the Cuore Del Vesuvio, a tomato from Naples. The variety is actually a Cuore de Sorrento, but she renamed it as it is grown in a slightly different region. The tomato is a really old species, and the families that grow it keep the seed year on year. It is thin-skinned and scars easily, but the flavour is another level, hence why it is grown still. This is a tomato that has never seen hydroponics…
Consumers, even in Italy, sadly, see supermarket 'perfection' as a desirable quality. Food that can be moved around the modern transport system is durable; it has few other qualities. Innovation does not replace flavour; the best tomatoes make the best pizza; the oven almost doesn't matter.
He delves into the biological magic that is the relationship between fungi, bacteria and plants. The key is healthy soil that has all the ingredients, as healthy soil equals healthy and nutritious plants. He finds a farm that still uses horses, and the spinach that they grow and he gets to eat was the finest spinach that he has ever had. It is the same with onions that he finds in a tiny 2km square plot. It is the particular makeup of the soils that gives the onions their incomparable flavours from this place in Italy. When people have tried to grow them elsewhere, they have never tasted the same.
He is very scathing of the modern organic system. Modern industrial farming has done its thing and it is sadly no guarantee of quality; unless you know the farmer or smallholder, we are being deceived. One way to get a better-tasting crop and to add flavour is to stress the plants as they are growing. A Sardinian farmer does this by watering his tomatoes with slightly salty water and his tomatoes are deeply flavoured and flawed.
Modern farming likes to add lots of water to crops as this increases the weight and dilutes the flavour. There are crops though, that like lots of water, one of which is watercress. He visits a farm just outside Chichester that farms it in the old way, using the water from the chalk of the South Downs. The water itself is delicious, and the crop it produces is equally wonderful.
The industrial farming method revels in uniformity, but by mimicking the way that crops grow in the wild brings many more benefits in terms of flavour and sustainability. The roots of agriculture go back thousands of years, and this new system meant that societies and civilisations could grow. People developed methods that, because they worked, are still in use today. In Mexico, it's called Milpa, where they plant three different crops together because they benefit each other.
Immigrants to new countries often leave their native languages behind, but they do hang onto their food traditions. Our childhood memories of food are deeply ingrained in our hippocampus, and even though the industrial food system is decades old, there is still time to embed food memories in our families.
He visits a Sicilian radicchio grower and sees the care and attention they put into growing the best crop they can. This method though, has a cost and Fubini's solution to this is that we have to pay more for the food. It will sustain these methods and keep that link to the natural world that a lot of food production is missing. With his company Natoora he targets chefs who want the best-tasting ingredients they can get.
So, how do we go from where we are at the moment to where we want to be? We are told to eat local, too, but is this the case? Fubini doesn't think that this is exclusively the case and he expands on some of his theories and reasons as to why this is the case; it comes down to how the food is grown, not where. Changing the system will mean pushing back against big corporations with powerful vested interests and deep pockets to ensure that the law is on their side.
At its heart though, this is a book about a search for a white peach that came from the Campania region of Italy. He had not other clues other than that, but it would be the craziest search that he would embark on trying to find the farmer who grew them.
The current food system is geared towards bland uniform food. What Fubini wants to do is make the artisan producer able to compete with the mainstream producers and win every time on flavour. One way on improving the system is education, teaching kids what seasonal food is and why foods with flavour is better for you.
This is an excellent book and is well worth reading alongside Ultra-Processed People. In that, van Tulleken lays out how bad the modern food system is for us. In here, Fubini lays out a way for us to get much better and tastier food onto our plates. Well worth reading.
Gone was the attribute of flavour; instead, supermarket buyers wanted standardisation, robustness when being transported and cheap prices. It had taken 12,000 years, but the desire for flavour had gone, and since the 1950s, nutritional values in foods have declined dramatically as these policies have mostly taken over the food system. The ubiquitous availability of all foods all year round means that we have lost all notion of seasons.
Understanding our planet and remembering our connection to nature is essential if we are to see the seasons as a precursor to us.
Fubini set up his company, Natoora, after seeing a lady who walked into a food store one December demanding peaches and could not understand why they didn't have any available. He specialised in providing top-quality fruit and veg to high-end restaurants with the emphasis on flavour. And with flavour, you get nutrients, animals instinctively know what minerals they are deficient in and will look to find a plant that has those, and will eat it until their internal balance is restored.
It is as much the locality as it is the variety that determines the flavour, hence the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Fubini writes about oranges and olives that come from a specific area of Sicily that can trace their origins back to the 8th or 9th century bc. I learn about the Cuore Del Vesuvio, a tomato from Naples. The variety is actually a Cuore de Sorrento, but she renamed it as it is grown in a slightly different region. The tomato is a really old species, and the families that grow it keep the seed year on year. It is thin-skinned and scars easily, but the flavour is another level, hence why it is grown still. This is a tomato that has never seen hydroponics…
Consumers, even in Italy, sadly, see supermarket 'perfection' as a desirable quality. Food that can be moved around the modern transport system is durable; it has few other qualities. Innovation does not replace flavour; the best tomatoes make the best pizza; the oven almost doesn't matter.
He delves into the biological magic that is the relationship between fungi, bacteria and plants. The key is healthy soil that has all the ingredients, as healthy soil equals healthy and nutritious plants. He finds a farm that still uses horses, and the spinach that they grow and he gets to eat was the finest spinach that he has ever had. It is the same with onions that he finds in a tiny 2km square plot. It is the particular makeup of the soils that gives the onions their incomparable flavours from this place in Italy. When people have tried to grow them elsewhere, they have never tasted the same.
He is very scathing of the modern organic system. Modern industrial farming has done its thing and it is sadly no guarantee of quality; unless you know the farmer or smallholder, we are being deceived. One way to get a better-tasting crop and to add flavour is to stress the plants as they are growing. A Sardinian farmer does this by watering his tomatoes with slightly salty water and his tomatoes are deeply flavoured and flawed.
Modern farming likes to add lots of water to crops as this increases the weight and dilutes the flavour. There are crops though, that like lots of water, one of which is watercress. He visits a farm just outside Chichester that farms it in the old way, using the water from the chalk of the South Downs. The water itself is delicious, and the crop it produces is equally wonderful.
The industrial farming method revels in uniformity, but by mimicking the way that crops grow in the wild brings many more benefits in terms of flavour and sustainability. The roots of agriculture go back thousands of years, and this new system meant that societies and civilisations could grow. People developed methods that, because they worked, are still in use today. In Mexico, it's called Milpa, where they plant three different crops together because they benefit each other.
Immigrants to new countries often leave their native languages behind, but they do hang onto their food traditions. Our childhood memories of food are deeply ingrained in our hippocampus, and even though the industrial food system is decades old, there is still time to embed food memories in our families.
He visits a Sicilian radicchio grower and sees the care and attention they put into growing the best crop they can. This method though, has a cost and Fubini's solution to this is that we have to pay more for the food. It will sustain these methods and keep that link to the natural world that a lot of food production is missing. With his company Natoora he targets chefs who want the best-tasting ingredients they can get.
So, how do we go from where we are at the moment to where we want to be? We are told to eat local, too, but is this the case? Fubini doesn't think that this is exclusively the case and he expands on some of his theories and reasons as to why this is the case; it comes down to how the food is grown, not where. Changing the system will mean pushing back against big corporations with powerful vested interests and deep pockets to ensure that the law is on their side.
At its heart though, this is a book about a search for a white peach that came from the Campania region of Italy. He had not other clues other than that, but it would be the craziest search that he would embark on trying to find the farmer who grew them.
The current food system is geared towards bland uniform food. What Fubini wants to do is make the artisan producer able to compete with the mainstream producers and win every time on flavour. One way on improving the system is education, teaching kids what seasonal food is and why foods with flavour is better for you.
This is an excellent book and is well worth reading alongside Ultra-Processed People. In that, van Tulleken lays out how bad the modern food system is for us. In here, Fubini lays out a way for us to get much better and tastier food onto our plates. Well worth reading.
October 30, 2024
I was attracted by the title but found myself reading something that ended up feeling with a very elaborate pr stunt to promote a company. The information within the book was interesting but it fidnt really reflect the title. There was not much really about flavor or peaches. I felt mislead as a reader. I loved the history and there was glimpses of debate but it seemed so geared up the company it lost itself by trying yo be different but reading like a pr. This would appeal to anyone who like reading about founder of companies and may be better as autobiography with factual debate included. I think ut needed yo be longer.
Thank uou netgallery and publisher and author
Thank uou netgallery and publisher and author
October 2, 2024
Fubini is the CEO of Natoora, which supplies produce to world-class restaurants. He is passionate about restoring seasonal patterns of eating; just because we can purchase strawberries year-round doesn’t mean we should. Supermarkets (which control 85% or more of food stock in the USA and UK) are to blame, Fubini explains, because after the Second World War they “tricked families with feelings of value and convenience, yet what they really wanted was for them to consume more of this unhealthy, flavour-engineered food [i.e. ultra-processed foods], which is cheap to produce and easy to transport because of its industrial nature.” He gives a few examples of fruits that have been selected for flavour rather than shelf life, such as the winter tomato varieties he popularized via River Café, green citrus, and the divine Greta white peach that set him off on this journey in 2011. This is a concise and readable introduction to modern food issues.
While it didn’t contain a lot that was new to me and I found the prose only serviceable, I’d still recommend it to anyone wanting a quick and thought-provoking read about where food comes from. Fubini’s is a wise voice we would do well to heed; I saw him quoted in the Guardian the other day on how to choose ripe fruit.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
While it didn’t contain a lot that was new to me and I found the prose only serviceable, I’d still recommend it to anyone wanting a quick and thought-provoking read about where food comes from. Fubini’s is a wise voice we would do well to heed; I saw him quoted in the Guardian the other day on how to choose ripe fruit.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
September 18, 2024
I genuinely don’t believe this was the intention of this book but oh my does it read like one giant ad for Natoora.
I have to say, wanting to eat seasonally always is one of the hills i will die on (especially coming from the south of France and living in London) and sourcing good produce is something i will always focus on so, at its core, i agree with and support most of what this book has to say, and it did had some interesting examples and conversations around that (i particularly enjoyed the chapter on localism). Everything that this books fights for: I’m all in, and the idea of a flavour-led food revolution is beautiful to me.
That said, I don’t think the book fully engages with the issue of how big of a privilege it is to be able to make those choices (and to shop somewhere like Natoora, which is a brand I truthfully love, but absolutely cannot afford).
To be honest this was nearly a 1 star because, until the chapter on accessibility around the end of the book, which was essential and should not have been that late on in the book! For way too long I thought it simply wouldn’t address the issue of cost at all, which had my blood boiling. In a cost of living crisis it felt tone death at best, downright offensive at worst.
Luckily it does address it and does display a fair level of nuance but it is overshadowed by the fact that it’s been put at the end, like an after thought, when really I believe that it’s a question that should have punctuated every other chapter of the book and been a constant throughout. That and the fact that the conclusion of the discussion is more or loess ‘I recognise that not everyone can afford to do the things I advise in this book, but a lot of us can and should’ which tells me that this book simply isn’t targeted towards everyone - it certainly isn’t targeted towards someone like me who, despite loving food and revering good ingredients and produce, lives pay check to pay check and simply cannot afford to shop at places like Natoora. Maybe I’m bringing too much of my own baggage into my reading of this book but in the end, it made me feel left out, like I was being told that, since I’m poor, I just couldn’t participate in all these miraculous food concepts, and I should just leave it to the people who can afford it.
That along the fact that the author cannot stop complaining about the fact that food has become too cheap and accessible nowadays really left a sour taste in my mouth.
Bottom line: Although I wholeheartedly agree with the arguments at play here, the way they fail to engage meaningfully with issues of affordability and fail to recognise the privileged views that they present was disappointing.
Fair enough, I guess, I’m just not the correct audience for this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I have to say, wanting to eat seasonally always is one of the hills i will die on (especially coming from the south of France and living in London) and sourcing good produce is something i will always focus on so, at its core, i agree with and support most of what this book has to say, and it did had some interesting examples and conversations around that (i particularly enjoyed the chapter on localism). Everything that this books fights for: I’m all in, and the idea of a flavour-led food revolution is beautiful to me.
That said, I don’t think the book fully engages with the issue of how big of a privilege it is to be able to make those choices (and to shop somewhere like Natoora, which is a brand I truthfully love, but absolutely cannot afford).
To be honest this was nearly a 1 star because, until the chapter on accessibility around the end of the book, which was essential and should not have been that late on in the book! For way too long I thought it simply wouldn’t address the issue of cost at all, which had my blood boiling. In a cost of living crisis it felt tone death at best, downright offensive at worst.
Luckily it does address it and does display a fair level of nuance but it is overshadowed by the fact that it’s been put at the end, like an after thought, when really I believe that it’s a question that should have punctuated every other chapter of the book and been a constant throughout. That and the fact that the conclusion of the discussion is more or loess ‘I recognise that not everyone can afford to do the things I advise in this book, but a lot of us can and should’ which tells me that this book simply isn’t targeted towards everyone - it certainly isn’t targeted towards someone like me who, despite loving food and revering good ingredients and produce, lives pay check to pay check and simply cannot afford to shop at places like Natoora. Maybe I’m bringing too much of my own baggage into my reading of this book but in the end, it made me feel left out, like I was being told that, since I’m poor, I just couldn’t participate in all these miraculous food concepts, and I should just leave it to the people who can afford it.
That along the fact that the author cannot stop complaining about the fact that food has become too cheap and accessible nowadays really left a sour taste in my mouth.
Bottom line: Although I wholeheartedly agree with the arguments at play here, the way they fail to engage meaningfully with issues of affordability and fail to recognise the privileged views that they present was disappointing.
Fair enough, I guess, I’m just not the correct audience for this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
August 22, 2024
In search of the Perfect Peach
Think for a moment about the most memorable meals you’ve had. That sandwich with the best tomato you’ve ever eaten, that side salad where the greens were so good it didn’t need dressing, that fruit tart that made you stop and savor every morsel. Did you ever stop and think “How is this possible? Why can’t I experience this every meal?”
In Search of the Perfect Peach seeks to answer what made that food so good and how can we improve food systems in order to improve flavor, nutrition and sustainability of ingredients.
This book will take you on a journey from seed and soil to plate and culture. With the energy of a perfect dinner party guest, Franco Fubini, avails the reader with delectable descriptions of fruit, veg, and landscapes. Tells us stories of ingredients, and takes us into the world of food sourcing and what he sees as the future.
I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the state and future of our food systems. To anyone who works within the food industry. And lastly to anyone who eats food.
At times the organization of these chapters reads as a textbook making it a fairly slow read. Other times Fubini sweeps you away with loving descriptions and anecdotes.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!
Rating 3.75/5
Think for a moment about the most memorable meals you’ve had. That sandwich with the best tomato you’ve ever eaten, that side salad where the greens were so good it didn’t need dressing, that fruit tart that made you stop and savor every morsel. Did you ever stop and think “How is this possible? Why can’t I experience this every meal?”
In Search of the Perfect Peach seeks to answer what made that food so good and how can we improve food systems in order to improve flavor, nutrition and sustainability of ingredients.
This book will take you on a journey from seed and soil to plate and culture. With the energy of a perfect dinner party guest, Franco Fubini, avails the reader with delectable descriptions of fruit, veg, and landscapes. Tells us stories of ingredients, and takes us into the world of food sourcing and what he sees as the future.
I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the state and future of our food systems. To anyone who works within the food industry. And lastly to anyone who eats food.
At times the organization of these chapters reads as a textbook making it a fairly slow read. Other times Fubini sweeps you away with loving descriptions and anecdotes.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!
Rating 3.75/5
September 18, 2024
I really enjoyed this book and agree with the messaging and core values of this book. We should all choose better and a lot of people can choose to make better choices everyday but I do think Franco doesn’t give enough credence to the balancing act of the average persons finances in this day and age. That’s not to say he doesn’t appreciate it at all but to only touch on this at the end doesn’t seem enough. He didn’t give any solution for how the average Joe can introduce flavour into their diets considering supermarkets are full of crap and most seasonal food is financially prohibitive. Having said that, overall I agree with everything he said and certainly feel a renewed motivation to continue to introduce more seasonal diversity into my own diet. A good message that far more people should be aware of and think about in their daily food choices.
August 30, 2024
2.5* rounded up. i have a lot of thoughts on this book. unexpectedly so, because when i asked for an ARC after spotting the lovely cover and intriguing title on a NetGalley newsletter, i thought it would be a quick, informative read on something outside of my comfort zone and not much more than that - just a chance to learn something new. but for me, in search of the perfect peach ended up irking me much more than i expected. part learning resource, farming guide, memoir, and investor pitch, my greatest issue with the book is that it didn’t seem to know who it was being written for, or for what purpose.
massive thanks to Chelsea Green Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
massive thanks to Chelsea Green Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
August 29, 2024
Fubini makes some good points in this book. We do need to look more closely at where our food comes from. We do need to think about how we buy as well as what we buy. Seasonality, flavour and provenance are all important as is soil health and good farming practices. Having said all that, I was disappointed in this book. Fubini is the founder of Natoora, a company which practices what the book preaches. A lot of this book read like a 200 page advert for shopping with Natoora. There was a great deal of explanation and emphasis on the importance of supply chains and how to create and maintain them. I appreciate that this is key to Fubini's business practice, but for the reader, not very interesting. I asked to review the book because I thought it would be about the search for great tasting, environmentally friendly produce, but that was actually quite a small part of the book.
I would also argue that Fubini is preaching to the choir here. If you can afford to shop at Natoora and places like it, you probably do that already. If you can't, then the message this book sends is frankly quite despairing in that to grow, produce and market products like the ones Fubini highlights costs a great deal of money. No matter how much shoppers have power, they only have it if they can afford to change their buying habits and in this current economic climate I'm not sure how many people are in that privileged position.
I would also argue that Fubini is preaching to the choir here. If you can afford to shop at Natoora and places like it, you probably do that already. If you can't, then the message this book sends is frankly quite despairing in that to grow, produce and market products like the ones Fubini highlights costs a great deal of money. No matter how much shoppers have power, they only have it if they can afford to change their buying habits and in this current economic climate I'm not sure how many people are in that privileged position.
March 17, 2025
My honest rating is 3.75. I really did appreciate learning about seasonality and prioritizing flavor in food, but I think the book was repetitive at times. also a lot of promo for his company which I think is valid but also not really accessible to most
November 18, 2024
A great explanation of our current agricultural system, how its been industrialised over the past 100 years and the impact that has had on flavour.
Well written with lots of interesting anecdotes and facts on food.
Well written with lots of interesting anecdotes and facts on food.
July 23, 2025
While Fubini certainly has an original and storytelling worthy idea, Natoora’s brilliant supply chain, I find this book a self indulgent.
Too many adjectives, not enough references.
Too many adjectives, not enough references.
September 3, 2025
I wanted to like this book because Fubini is the founder of Natoora, and I sometimes shop at their Pavilion Road branch when I’m in London. It is connected to Parlour by the Ice Cream Union, which is the closest thing to a real Italian gelateria I’ve been in outside of Italy. I bought the book at Natoora (after an ice cream), along with a “perfect peach” of the book’s title – which was delicious, but unfortunately not perfect.
The premise is: flavour in fresh produce is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a real indication of nutritional value. So a tomato, carrot or peach that is bred for supermarket shelves – long-lasting to survive storage, attractive to the eye, robust to avoid damage – is not simply a worse-tasting version of its delicious deli counterpart; it’s genuinely not as healthy. Nice to know.
Probably the most interesting fact I picked up was that a good-looking tomato is not simply a sign that the grower has prioritised looks over taste; this we know already. It’s an indicator in itself that the fruit won’t taste as good. This is because the more delicate skin of the best-tasting tomatoes is more likely to split or crack when a fruit is grown for flavour, which means they are (gasp) ugly to look at, which means the more flavourful varieties simply aren’t available in mass-market shops. I can now bring to an end my lifelong quest to find a good-looking tomato that is also brimming with flavour, which I’d always imagined existed…
The book is clearly a labour of love from a guy who is seriously committed to sourcing great produce, but it is also a labour to read, and it preaches to the converted. It might have worked as a fascinating 5,000-word essay, but drawn out over nearly 200 pages, it loses its impetus.
And at the end of it all, Fubini isn’t particularly clear how consumers accepting the seasonality of fruit and vegetables while simply demanding better quality produce, and being happy to pay for the additional cost, will solve the problem of earth-damaging, chemically over-reliant, ultra-processed, tasteless food manufacturing. It seems to involve cultivating markets that allow flavour-oriented medium-scale farmers to become highly specialised, rather than battling on as general growers, in order to stay financially viable. And also taking advantage of modern distribution systems to get produce to market quickly. But the detail wasn’t clear.
Either way, good luck to Franco Fubini. He certainly made me want to grow my own tomatoes.
The premise is: flavour in fresh produce is not just a nice-to-have; it’s a real indication of nutritional value. So a tomato, carrot or peach that is bred for supermarket shelves – long-lasting to survive storage, attractive to the eye, robust to avoid damage – is not simply a worse-tasting version of its delicious deli counterpart; it’s genuinely not as healthy. Nice to know.
Probably the most interesting fact I picked up was that a good-looking tomato is not simply a sign that the grower has prioritised looks over taste; this we know already. It’s an indicator in itself that the fruit won’t taste as good. This is because the more delicate skin of the best-tasting tomatoes is more likely to split or crack when a fruit is grown for flavour, which means they are (gasp) ugly to look at, which means the more flavourful varieties simply aren’t available in mass-market shops. I can now bring to an end my lifelong quest to find a good-looking tomato that is also brimming with flavour, which I’d always imagined existed…
The book is clearly a labour of love from a guy who is seriously committed to sourcing great produce, but it is also a labour to read, and it preaches to the converted. It might have worked as a fascinating 5,000-word essay, but drawn out over nearly 200 pages, it loses its impetus.
And at the end of it all, Fubini isn’t particularly clear how consumers accepting the seasonality of fruit and vegetables while simply demanding better quality produce, and being happy to pay for the additional cost, will solve the problem of earth-damaging, chemically over-reliant, ultra-processed, tasteless food manufacturing. It seems to involve cultivating markets that allow flavour-oriented medium-scale farmers to become highly specialised, rather than battling on as general growers, in order to stay financially viable. And also taking advantage of modern distribution systems to get produce to market quickly. But the detail wasn’t clear.
Either way, good luck to Franco Fubini. He certainly made me want to grow my own tomatoes.
September 10, 2024
‘In Search of the Perfect Peach’ was so much more to me than just a man’s journey to rediscover lost flavors—it’s a revealing exploration of how we might fix our food system, all written with an inspiring passion for cooking and enjoying traditionally flavorful food.
Franco delivers frightening, yet factual insights into how we've manipulated food production within the span of an average human lifetime. He highlights the way our demands have outpaced nature’s ability to provide, and how, ultimately, we’ve become victims of our own appetites.
Some sections do read like a Shark Tank pitch for Natoora, but that “fact-fueled, motivation-to-action” writing style kept me hooked for all 200 pages. There were plenty of highlight-worthy moments—topics I want to explore further, thought-provoking ideas, and eye-opening facts. With the book’s slim outline, though, I did feel like my “research further” tabs were getting quite a workout.
It’s important to acknowledge that having the option to choose nutritious food is a privilege. As consumers, we also have the power (and, again, the privilege) to drive the change we want—whether that’s by demanding more flavorful, nutritious food or supporting a fairer market while combatting the market monopoly of supermarkets across the world. But because of that, I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone. It’s a great read, but in today’s world, not everyone is fortunate enough to be selective about their food or where they shop.
So, if you’re one of the lucky ones with that kind of choice, this book is especially for you.
Thanks to Chelsea Green Publishing for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Franco delivers frightening, yet factual insights into how we've manipulated food production within the span of an average human lifetime. He highlights the way our demands have outpaced nature’s ability to provide, and how, ultimately, we’ve become victims of our own appetites.
Some sections do read like a Shark Tank pitch for Natoora, but that “fact-fueled, motivation-to-action” writing style kept me hooked for all 200 pages. There were plenty of highlight-worthy moments—topics I want to explore further, thought-provoking ideas, and eye-opening facts. With the book’s slim outline, though, I did feel like my “research further” tabs were getting quite a workout.
It’s important to acknowledge that having the option to choose nutritious food is a privilege. As consumers, we also have the power (and, again, the privilege) to drive the change we want—whether that’s by demanding more flavorful, nutritious food or supporting a fairer market while combatting the market monopoly of supermarkets across the world. But because of that, I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone. It’s a great read, but in today’s world, not everyone is fortunate enough to be selective about their food or where they shop.
So, if you’re one of the lucky ones with that kind of choice, this book is especially for you.
Thanks to Chelsea Green Publishing for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
January 2, 2025
Interesting overview of agriculture today and how to improve nutrition and flavour in produce from someone whose work grapples with precisely this. Although, I didn't expect Natoora to be quite as big of a topic, given the title and subtitle of the book, so that did put a bit of a dent in my appreciation of it. But, to be fair, the author was using examples that he was deeply familiar with to put across his points.
Some of the information was already familiar to me, and also overlapped with Avocado Anxiety by Louise Gray, so I do plan to sit down and compare what they agree on. For example, Fubini is categorically against hydroponics as he believes that the nutrient density of produce is lowered when not grown in soil as opposed to nature. I don't recall Gray being against hydroponics, so that's something I'm curious about reviewing. On the other hand, they both agree that visually "perfect" fruits in supermarkets do a disservice to the food we eat and to farming practices.
Some of the information was already familiar to me, and also overlapped with Avocado Anxiety by Louise Gray, so I do plan to sit down and compare what they agree on. For example, Fubini is categorically against hydroponics as he believes that the nutrient density of produce is lowered when not grown in soil as opposed to nature. I don't recall Gray being against hydroponics, so that's something I'm curious about reviewing. On the other hand, they both agree that visually "perfect" fruits in supermarkets do a disservice to the food we eat and to farming practices.
July 11, 2024
3.5★
"In Search of the Perfect Peach" delves into the significance of flavour in transforming our food system and the way we source the foods that sustain us. Through engaging narratives and expert insights, the book highlights the crucial role of taste, advocating for a return to flavourful, nutritious foods that will, in turn, enhance both our health and our environment.
Special recognition to Chelsea Green Publishing for admirably standing behind their editorial mission by putting it into practice, from using vegetable-based inks in the printing of their books when possible, to using paper sourced from responsibly managed forests.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Chelsea Green Publishing, and Franco Fubini for the opportunity to read and review “In Search of the Perfect Peach” prior to its publication date.
"In Search of the Perfect Peach" delves into the significance of flavour in transforming our food system and the way we source the foods that sustain us. Through engaging narratives and expert insights, the book highlights the crucial role of taste, advocating for a return to flavourful, nutritious foods that will, in turn, enhance both our health and our environment.
Special recognition to Chelsea Green Publishing for admirably standing behind their editorial mission by putting it into practice, from using vegetable-based inks in the printing of their books when possible, to using paper sourced from responsibly managed forests.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Chelsea Green Publishing, and Franco Fubini for the opportunity to read and review “In Search of the Perfect Peach” prior to its publication date.
November 3, 2025
3.5 rounded up to 4. Honestly this book is super easy to read but is like a surface scratch on food issues. A little history on the superstore that also falls short to describe the part that food companies and conglomerates and media conglomerates played in creating the food system we have today. Mind you also this book is so obviously written by someone who grew up privileged, not necessarily economically but as a white European who experienced America as an “outsider” as they self describe. Having a couple of sentences about food desserts doesn’t even begin to unwrap the food inequality in the US and how different its systems are compared to anywhere in the world.
Nonetheless it’s not supposed to be about that and is just about a successful man who is determined to tour the world to find fhe best produce he can.
Nonetheless it’s not supposed to be about that and is just about a successful man who is determined to tour the world to find fhe best produce he can.
August 24, 2024
A manifest for the flavour revolution!
Like the author, I come from a country(or from a time) when we would only eat seasonally, with flavour in mind and nothing else would do justice to our plates. When I've moved from East to West it was a food shock! For many year I've thought fruits and vegetable were tasteless! Nowadays things are either improving or I've got used to no taste hahaha. While I am not totally behind seasonality, I completely understand where the author is coming from. I have taken steps to not buy certain things when they are very out of season only base on the absence of taste rather than the concept of seasonality, but I do agree it is something to consider, especially if you are a person that wants to make conscious decisions when it comes to food.
I must confess that at first I was not convinced. I've found myself thinking this book is a bit slim, a book for rich people who can afford the best of the best! But slowly he won me over! I think what really got me on his side was the false locality (when eating local does more hard than good) and misleading use of organic labels, things I've been thinking for a while but not found anyone voicing this concerns before! He got me on his side to the point where I really understood the concept and also agreed: If we can find new markets, where consumers have the economic means to value the product correctly and allow it to stand out from the competition, I believe it is worth the extra mile to get it there. If targeting the best of the crop to people with means, means that we will keep this products and those farmers prospering, so be it! Maybe in time, through scale economics, the like of myself will be able to afford tasty vegetables and fruits!
So let the revolution start! Flavour for the masses, please!
*Book from NetGalley with many thanks for the opportunity to read it!
Like the author, I come from a country(or from a time) when we would only eat seasonally, with flavour in mind and nothing else would do justice to our plates. When I've moved from East to West it was a food shock! For many year I've thought fruits and vegetable were tasteless! Nowadays things are either improving or I've got used to no taste hahaha. While I am not totally behind seasonality, I completely understand where the author is coming from. I have taken steps to not buy certain things when they are very out of season only base on the absence of taste rather than the concept of seasonality, but I do agree it is something to consider, especially if you are a person that wants to make conscious decisions when it comes to food.
I must confess that at first I was not convinced. I've found myself thinking this book is a bit slim, a book for rich people who can afford the best of the best! But slowly he won me over! I think what really got me on his side was the false locality (when eating local does more hard than good) and misleading use of organic labels, things I've been thinking for a while but not found anyone voicing this concerns before! He got me on his side to the point where I really understood the concept and also agreed: If we can find new markets, where consumers have the economic means to value the product correctly and allow it to stand out from the competition, I believe it is worth the extra mile to get it there. If targeting the best of the crop to people with means, means that we will keep this products and those farmers prospering, so be it! Maybe in time, through scale economics, the like of myself will be able to afford tasty vegetables and fruits!
So let the revolution start! Flavour for the masses, please!
*Book from NetGalley with many thanks for the opportunity to read it!
November 20, 2024
I went to a book talk at Bernal Cutlery with Franco and the book reads as if this was a conversation with him. I thought his perspective is really interesting and made me think about what a flavor-driven food system looks like. I have so many questions about how a flavor-driven food system scales and how to make it accessible. The ideas of seasonality validate a lot of what I learned at Chez Panisse. There were a couple of points that are quite different than the solutions presented in Omnivore's Dilemma, which was also interesting.
July 10, 2025
Although sometimes a little 'preachy' and sometimes a little repetitive, it is a good book reminding us of what food 'should' be like, rather than what for many of us, especially in the western world, isn't, in both quality, taste and nutrition. Forward by Tim Spector, again good but at times a little preachy. Some of the stories are interesting, some facts, but not really a 'science' book as such, more of a story about how Franco got to be where he is today, and how food has over history influenced both us and how and what we eat. Still a good book, and easy read for both teens and adults.
July 23, 2024
Using experience from founding Natoora, the author explores our food system in this book. It shows how real flavor is created and why it's important for health and soil. Combining personal stories and food history, it offers a fresh view on food from farm to table. This book urges us to enjoy real flavor and value healthy food.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in return for my review.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in return for my review.
May 4, 2025
I got the point quite quickly. Maybe a bit uncharitable but didn't really feel it offered much that isn't already obvious. Good quality food tastes better and is better for your health and environment. duh. It's also inaccessibly expensive to most people. Not convinced he really explains how his vision extends beyond delivering good food to wealthy people.
August 13, 2025
An interesting read but I did find it a bit repetitive at times. I get that the author really wanted to get his point across but I think it was a bit OTT. This book would have benefited from more stories about individual growers and interesting varieties of fruit and veg. A practical appendix detailing what’s in season when would have been a nice touch too.
January 13, 2025
In case you missed it, flavour = nutrition.
February 18, 2025
One of those, “yeah that’s my life philosophy too” kinda books 🍑🍋🍅
March 2, 2025
A simple but powerful message, laced with fascinating stories of farmers and produce. I highly recommend it as it provides a fresh perspective on the subject.
November 24, 2025
Quando ho letto il libro "In Search of the Perfect Peach" di Franco Fubini, non mi aspettavo che un semplice susseguirsi di pagine e racconti potesse suscitarmi così tante emozioni.
Alla lettura, totalmente sorprendente, del nome della mia città, Torre del Greco, il cuore mi è esploso nel petto.
Un legame profondo e immediato mi ha unito alle storie di passione e sapore raccontate nel libro. Mi sono sentita parte di una narrazione che ha dato vita al sapore, rendendolo oggetto di una riflessione molto interessante.
Il CEO di Natoora, Franco Fubini, analizza accuratamente l'attuale filiera agroalimentare, sottolinenando i dettagli che influenzano e caratterizzano le scelte dei consumatori, giorno dopo giorno.
Franco parla del ritorno al sapore degli alimenti — della frutta e dei vegetali, in particolare. Il sapore è la nostra fonte di conoscenza e scoperta più potente.
Natoora è più di un'esperienza personale; Natoora è una realtà virtuosa che affonda le proprie radici nel bisogno di riscoprire la natura, formando mappe di sapori. Per questo, Franco Fubini affronta tematiche importanti, come l’agroecologia e il rinvigorimento di sistemi alimentari sostenibili e rispettosi dell’ambiente.
Il racconto delle storie di agricoltori e produttori, quali Raffaele e Carmelo, è toccante e mi ha ricordato quanto sia importante considerare chi si cela dietro i nostri piatti e le nostre scelte alimentari, gli anelli guidano la nostra filiera alimentare.
La missione di Natoora è un faro di speranza per chi, come me, crede che il cibo possa essere un veicolo di cambiamento, un modo per ristabilire legami che la modernità ha messo in ombra. Mangiare è un atto d'amore e, spesso, ce ne dimentichiamo.
Alla lettura, totalmente sorprendente, del nome della mia città, Torre del Greco, il cuore mi è esploso nel petto.
Un legame profondo e immediato mi ha unito alle storie di passione e sapore raccontate nel libro. Mi sono sentita parte di una narrazione che ha dato vita al sapore, rendendolo oggetto di una riflessione molto interessante.
Il CEO di Natoora, Franco Fubini, analizza accuratamente l'attuale filiera agroalimentare, sottolinenando i dettagli che influenzano e caratterizzano le scelte dei consumatori, giorno dopo giorno.
Franco parla del ritorno al sapore degli alimenti — della frutta e dei vegetali, in particolare. Il sapore è la nostra fonte di conoscenza e scoperta più potente.
Natoora è più di un'esperienza personale; Natoora è una realtà virtuosa che affonda le proprie radici nel bisogno di riscoprire la natura, formando mappe di sapori. Per questo, Franco Fubini affronta tematiche importanti, come l’agroecologia e il rinvigorimento di sistemi alimentari sostenibili e rispettosi dell’ambiente.
Il racconto delle storie di agricoltori e produttori, quali Raffaele e Carmelo, è toccante e mi ha ricordato quanto sia importante considerare chi si cela dietro i nostri piatti e le nostre scelte alimentari, gli anelli guidano la nostra filiera alimentare.
La missione di Natoora è un faro di speranza per chi, come me, crede che il cibo possa essere un veicolo di cambiamento, un modo per ristabilire legami che la modernità ha messo in ombra. Mangiare è un atto d'amore e, spesso, ce ne dimentichiamo.
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