Fruit Love Letters
About the Podcast
Fruit Love Letters is a curious dive into the Anthropocene through fruit-colored glasses. Host Jessamine Starr may not be a botanist, historian, farmer or an expert on fruit, but as a chef in Atlanta she's simply had a lifetime love affair with it. So, she began penning love letters to fruit. This podcast pairs those letters with her desires to learn more. From the miraculous survival adventure of the avocado, to the nurturing personality of a fig, we’ll traverse the world of fruit through emotional meanderings and expanding a hunger for more information. Through discussions with farmers, scientists, chefs and enthusiasts, Fruit Love Letters proves that there is so much we didn’t know about fruit, from the blueberries you sprinkle on your cereal or that seemingly mundane apple snack, both in historical fact and mystique.
About the Host
Jessamine Starr
Jessamine Starr is a chef, writer, and lover of fruit. She is the chef/owner of Good Food Truck since 2010 (@goodfoodtruckatl) as well as the owner/chef for ett- the single-seat restaurant in the woods (@ettinthewoods) that ran from May 2020-May 2021 Named “Atlanta’s oddest restaurant” by Atlanta Magazine. Ett also gained recognition with the Thrillist, Google News, Plate Magazine, Restaurant Hospitality Magazine, and Hip Camp. She wrote the cookbook “Spring Folds” in 2018 and has had recipes published in Vogue magazine. In 2011 and 2014 the Good Food Truck was awarded 'Atlanta's Best Food Truck". She was featured in the 2015 PBS show “Get Delicious.” On a whim in 2019, she began penning love letters to her favorite fruit, inspired by her lifetime love of all fruits (@fruitloveletters). She is also co-owner of cult carts, a sweet treat catering company (@cultcarts) and part of a lifetime photo project, nudetwins, started in 2015, that asks the audience to question what is real and dance with that awkwardness (ig- nudetwins).
She has a degree in Literature from Montana State University and is an excellent and very experienced dishwasher.
Episode 1: The Fruit the World Can't Help But Love
Episode 2: The Native Fruit Worth Remembering
Episode 3: Cultivated or Wild the Blueberry Has a Story to Tell
Episode 4: The Subtly Essential Ingredient for Equatorial Chefs
Episode 5: The Beautiful Complexities of the Apple
Episode 6: The Persimmon - A Sweet Summer Package for Winter Eating
Episode 7: The Improbable Path of the Avocado Pit
Episode 8: The Ubiquitous History of Mulberries
Episode 9: The Fig - Mother of all Fruit
Episode 10: Fruit Utopia - The Preston B. Bird and Mary Heinlein Fruit and Spice Park
Show Credits
Irina Zhorov
Producer
Bethany Sands
Editor
Carlynn Crosby
Research
Indigo Clarkson
Intern