Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (Kate Lebo)

Review by Nina Mukerjee Furstenau

This book had me at the description of author Kate Lebo as essayist, poet, and pie lady. This delightful combination of talents comes fully into play in The Book of Difficult Fruit and I adore the results. There is art in Lebo’s words, contemplations on life and love, and exact measurements. Sends chills down my spine just typing those words.

The book has 26 chapters, each on one unruly fruit with a recipe. Sit tight, grab your favorite beverage and settle in. You’ll note a myriad of journeys in these pages and yours will be one of them. What is a writer really writing about when they write about food? The answer is anything and everything. As food writing great, MFK Fisher said, “Anything can be a lodestar in a person’s life, I suppose, and for some fortunates like me, the kitchen serves well.” It serves Lebo well, too.

As you explore the world through Lebo’s ornery fruit, the author offers tantalizing bits of personal narrative, and culinary history. The recipes included in each chapter feel like a warm invitation and are artfully, clearly explained. Full disclosure: our farm’s Osage Orange (hedge apples) feature in the pages. That unruly fruit, and each one included in the book, become an intimate journey in Lebo’s hands. Each meditative chapter teases out bedrock practical advice on handling the tart, tender, and unruly in the kitchen and in life. So delectable.

To try a recipe from “Book of Difficult Fruit,” click here.