Good Food
How the pluot was born
In the natural world, we depend on birds and bees to carry pollen from tree to tree to create new seeds of life. When two trees share the same species or genus, horticulturalists cross them to produce hybrid varieties that arguably yield deeper flavors and more robust physical features than the original breeds. That's how the pluot was born. When botanist Floyd Zaiger famously crossed a plum with a plumcot — a plumcot being a 50-50 hybrid of plum and apricot — a succulent fruit that looks like a plum but tastes of apricot was born. Ziegler called it a “pluot.” If you're in Santa Monica on a Wednesday or Sunday, stop by the Murray Family Farms ' stand and taste the pluots. Farmer Sean Murray will walk you through the farm's 16 varieties and the fruit's family tree. Luke LA pastry chef Joy Cuevas likes pluots in her cobblers because they retain their vibrant hues even after they're baked. Find her recipe on the Good Food blog . Music: "Bird of Paradise" by Fly By Pony
By Evan Kleiman • • 1 min readIn the natural world, we depend on birds and bees to carry pollen from tree to tree to create new seeds of life. When two trees share the same species or genus, horticulturalists cross them to produce hybrid varieties that arguably yield deeper flavors and more robust physical features than the original breeds. That's how the pluot was born. When botanist Floyd Zaiger famously crossed a plum with a plumcot — a plumcot being a 50-50 hybrid of plum and apricot — a succulent fruit that looks like a plum but tastes of apricot was born. Zaiger called it a “pluot.”
If you're in Santa Monica on a Wednesday or Sunday, stop by the Murray Family Farms' stand and taste the pluots. Farmer Sean Murray will walk you through the farm's 16 varieties and the fruit's family tree. Luke LA pastry chef Joy Cuevas likes pluots in her cobblers because they retain their vibrant hues even after they're baked. Find her recipe on the Good Food blog.
Music: "Bird of Paradise" by Fly By Pony
