In Search of the Perfect Peach - by Franco Fubini (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

WINNER: The Guild of Food Writers Investigative Food Writing Award, 2025!

WITH A FOREWORD FROM TIM SPECTOR, author of The Diet Myth, Spoon-Fed and Food for Life

Named BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme Book of the Year, chosen by Dan Saladino

"Kitchen Confidential dances with Peaches, Oranges, and Tomatoes."
Dan Pope, HUNGRY podcast

Let flavour guide our food choices - and lead us to a better food future. In Search of the Perfect Peach shows us how this simple desire can bring about a healthier, tastier and brighter future for our food, the people who produce it and the soil it grows in.

That first bite of a perfectly ripe peach can be truly transformative - a joyful moment that will stay with you forever. For Franco Fubini, founder and CEO of Natoora, this encounter also leads him to realise that flavour is not simply a fleeting, visceral experience but a window into the farmer, a connection to our natural environment and a taste test for our food system.

What makes a great-tasting tomato? Why is scarring on a greengage a good sign? Does 'eating local' narrow our priorities to the exclusion of others? In Search of the Perfect Peach follows Franco as he navigates the food system in pursuit of this elusive element. As he takes us from Sicily's citrus groves to the streets of Mexico City, he shows how we have allowed the wider industry to compromise on more than just flavour.

Franco's search for the Greta peach culminates in his own clarity and conviction: by looking to flavour, we can unpick the industrialisation of our food production, restore nutrition and seasonal diversity to our plates and the craft of growing back to our landscapes. And, above all, we can find that perfect peach every summer.

"Fubini takes readers on a tour--from tomato growers in Italy to flower farmers in Cornwall to citrus groves in California . . . [and] makes a compelling case for strengthening the connections between consumers and farmers."--Civil Eats

"A pioneering approach."--Anna Jones, cook and bestselling author of Easy Wins

"This exciting and important book now brings Natoora and all its ingredients not just to restaurants like ours but ... to everyone's home."--Ruth Rogers, chef and co-founder of The River Cafe

"An incredible read for those who love food and care about its future. In Search of the Perfect Peach is both a love story and technical guide."--Kyle Connaughton, chef and owner of SingleThread Farm, Restaurant and Inn

"By valuing and reclaiming flavour, Franco argues that we can transform the system and also enrich our relationship with food. Essential reading."--Dan Saladino, journalist, broadcaster and author of Eating to Extinction

Review Quotes

"Franco and Natoora's pioneering approach to flavour-led food has changed food for the better in the UK and beyond. This book delves further into what eating for flavour means for our plates and the planet."--Anna Jones, cook and bestselling author of Easy Wins

"The current food system is causing unique flavours to be lost and our palates distorted. In Search of the Perfect Peach gives a powerful and impassioned account of why this is harmful to people and planet. By valuing and reclaiming flavour, Franco argues that we can transform the system and also enrich our relationship with food. Essential reading."--Dan Saladino, journalist, broadcaster and author of Eating to Extinction

"The growth of The River Cafe in London over the past twenty years has been made possible by Natoora, who bring our ingredients in the right season, from the right region, with the best quality and taste to our door. This exciting and important book now brings Natoora and all its ingredients not just to restaurants like ours but also to the interested cook, to their home - to everyone's home."--Ruth Rogers, chef and co-founder of The River Cafe

"An incredible read for those who love food and care about its future. In Search of the Perfect Peach is both a love story and technical guide to supporting good food systems and the people behind them."--Kyle Connaughton, chef and owner, SingleThread Farm, Restaurant and Inn

"Richly refreshing and powerfully persuasive -- what's not to love about the idea that epicurean pleasures can have positive environmental impact? -- I devoured In Search of the Perfect Peach in one delicious sitting."--Love Reading (starred)

"Fubini takes readers on a tour--from tomato growers in Italy to flower farmers in Cornwall to citrus groves in California . . . [and] makes a compelling case for strengthening the connections between consumers and farmers."--Civil Eats

About the Author

Franco Fubini is at the forefront of a fundamental revolution in the way we all eat. Founder and CEO of Natoora, his unique approach to seasonality and sourcing has been raising the bar on flavour for 20 years and is actively shaping the way both top chefs and consumers cook and understand food in London, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Malmo, New York, LA, Miami and Melbourne.

Driven by his belief that by engaging people with the real flavour of fruit and vegetables, we can collectively transform the way that food is being farmed and supplied, Franco has built a resilient supply chain founded on flavour, transparency and direct relationships. A professor of Sustainability Management at Columbia University in NYC, Franco is also a judge for the Food Planet Prize, the largest environmental prize in the world focused on food systems solutions.