CULTURE

WORDS TART AND TENDER

Kate Lebo warps the boundaries of food writing in her new Book of Difficult Fruit

It’s a testament to Kate Lebo’s curiosity, knowledge and sheer writing chops that she can spend a chapter describing something as tasting “like peaches laced with onions and garbage” and smelling “a little like turpentine” and you’ll want to merrily try some for yourself — laughing all the way.

Of course, you probably won’t get the 38-year-old Lebo to join for another round of the spikey fruit called a durian, grown primarily in Southeast Asia and only found through some digging through Spokane’s Asian grocery stores. The author of The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (With Recipes), arriving in stores April 6, readily admits she threw out most of hers, having tried just five bites before she started to feel ill. Some people do have a taste for the durian, though, and you’ll find a recipe for durian ice cream at the end of that chapter, even if Lebo never intends to eat the stuff that caused her husband and fellow author Sam Ligon to proclaim, “That smells like A-S-S.”

The difficult fruit in Lebo’s title doesn’t mean just fruit that’s literally hard to keep down (durian is an outlier there), but fruit that’s challenging to work with, hard to find in stores, or rarely referenced in mainstream food writing and recipes. And this book, Lebo’s third, isn’t simply a guide to tackling dishes featuring those fruits (although it is partly that). Difficult Fruit is a remarkable combination of food writing, memoir, medical and natural history, and cultural anthropology that’s unlike anything you’ve read before. And it’s as welcoming for non-foodies as it is for those familiar with Lebo as the “pie lady” writer of A Commonplace Book of Pie and Pie School: Lessons in Fruit, Flour and Butter, or as co-founder with Ligon of the annual Pie & Whiskey bacchanal during Spokane’s Get Lit! Festival.

The inspiration for tackling tricky fruits in her new book, Lebo says, as well as the tricky navigation of family history, romantic relationships, longtime friendships and medical challenges also in its pages, came from back when she was writing and promoting her old books,

BY DAN NAILEN

Kate Lebo goes beyond “pie lady” with her new book. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

particularly the fruit-forward Pie School.

“I was having a good time on the food circuit, but I was also frustrated by kind of the limits of what was expected of me if I was just there to talk about pie,” Lebo says. “I write poems, and I write personal essays, and have artistic pretensions as well. I think the phrase ‘difficult fruit’ started bopping around my head around the end of 2013.”

She had some false starts while trying to find the right balance of all the things she wanted to address. She worked through putting some “terrible, terrible stuff” on the page to eventually find her way into a work that introduces readers to certain uncommon fruits (aronia, medlar), and reintroduces them to familiar ones (pomegranates, blackberries) in unexpected ways. It also delves into the fruits’ histories in the natural world, their uses by medical practitioners and herbalists, and their culinary, cultural and spiritual roles in communities around the globe and close to the West Side transplant’s Spokane home.

Taking a “food book” into all those areas in a compelling way is a high-wire act that Lebo performs with seeming ease and an inviting style. There are hilarious lines, and poignant reflections as well, and the style in which she approached her writing was in part designed to be the kind of food writing she wasn’t seeing in the ’00s and early ’10s.

“Most of the food writing I was encountering just felt like it was really just peddling a vision of the good life,” Lebo says. “It seemed really entwined with product promotion. It seemed like such an obvious way to attract a reader, because it’s about food and we’re all attracted to food and excited about food. And that seemed like such an opportunity to hold the reader’s attention with less palatable subjects.

“The way I couched pitching Difficult Fruit was counter to the palatability that I saw as a problem in food writing. I think that food writing must be palatable, and part of our job is to get people to explore cuisine and show people why it’s worth this much attention. But I think food writers can get caught in this trap of just stopping right there and maybe not looking at the complexities of those foods or those cuisines, or the communities that make them, or the histories that bring them all together.”

Lebo’s chapter on huckleberries is a good example. Obviously a favorite among Inland Northwesterners, Lebo naturally includes a recipe for a huckleberry pie at chapter’s end, but before readers get there they’ll learn about some misconceptions about them (a century ago they were thought to be “easily domesticated”), and the ethics and techniques of picking wild huckleberries. There’s a reflection on their importance to Native peoples in the region, time spent with LaRae Wiley, founder of the Salish School, and a lesson about White “huckleberry camps” in the area in the early 20th century. There’s a scene from a modern farmers market, a dive into where the berries got their name and how they became emblematic of the Wild West, and a look at what forest fires mean for the sweet little summer treats. The woman covers some serious ground.

“What drew me to the huckleberry besides the deep local love for it is the complete ignorance of what it is everywhere else,” Lebo says. “Sam and I were having dinner at this fantastic restaurant in Omaha once, and they were serving like a steak with huckleberry sauce. And just for kicks I asked them, ‘What’s a huckleberry?’ And they said, ‘Oh, it’s related to the blackberry.’ Sam and I looked at each other and were like, ‘Uhhuh. You have no idea.’ But knowing that this is a fruit that is revered by the Native community here, by people who just arrived five years ago like me, by the descendants of White colonizers — we all think it’s great. So how to write an essay that can contain the reverence of all those people, some of whom are still in conflict?”

That’s what I mean by a high-wire act, and the fact Lebo can touch on so many aspects of a fruit in her chapters, organized alphabetically like a reference book, is a true feat. At no point does the writing feel dry or merely academic, and that’s because Lebo puts so many personal touches throughout. She writes about her own kitchen failures, about her family and tackling dandelion issues in her yard. She takes readers back to her childhood, back to a cancer scare during the writing of this very book, back to the nursing home where her mother worked, and where a teenage Lebo worked for a summer, too. The memoir-ish passages weave throughout to make Difficult Fruit probably the most intensely personal “cookbook” imaginable.

Delving into her personal history and sensitive subjects came naturally, Lebo says, probably part of her “instinct” as a nonfiction writer and poet.

“I kept trying to create ways to feel like I was completely alone in the room with the essays,” Lebo says. “I could say whatever unsayable thing and try to get to something that surprised and even scared me, if possible.

“Unintentionally, I told my family that I was writing a cookbook. That was probably, in some way, subconsciously intentional, if that’s even possible. But it gave me some protection to just go and tell these stories I’m really not supposed to tell. My family members did get a chance to see the book while there was still time to make edits because it was important to me for them to feel like they had some control over the story as I’m telling it. They were really generous, and I think they understood this was just my version of it.”

Inland Northwesterners will find themselves throughout Lebo’s book, too, whether through seeing their own family travails through her stories, or literally seeing places she mentions in and around Spokane, the city she’s called home since 2015. Difficult Fruit has a definite sense of place, despite its sprawling subjects.

“Thematically, that was important to me because this is a book about plants,” Lebo says. “And it’s also a book about how we are rooted, and how our roots connect. And the setting of the book, I wanted to feel rooted. And I also wanted the act of writing the book to help me root further into this particular place where I’m living right now, Spokane.” n

Kate Lebo in conversation with Kim Addonizio, a virtual multi-store release party with Auntie’s Bookstore, Third Place Books, Village Books and Browser’s Books • Mon, April 5 at 6 pm • free; first 20 to buy book get a Madagascar vanilla bean gift • auntiesbooks.com/event for details, links to the Zoom

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EVERY FRIDAY

Domantas Sabonis went from dominating in college to stardom in the NBA. GONZAGA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS PHOTO It’s a Long Way to the Top

The Zags’ tournament history is littered with memorable moments and formidable foes

Any big accomplishment is built on many smaller milestones. To really appreciate that view from the top of Everest or, say, the lifesaving launch of a new vaccine, you can’t help but recall the small victories, the painful setbacks and all those lessons learned. So as the Gonzaga Bulldogs continue their quest for a national championship that started in 1999, here’s a reminder of some of the most memorable moments and the heroes we met along these past 21 NCAA tournaments.

EPIC WINS

FLORIDA; MARCH 18, 1999

This was the Cinderella moment, when Gon-zahga from Spo-caine turned the college basketball world upside down with a 73-72 win on a last-second putback by Casey Calvary. Florida really was a Goliath, as mostly the same Gator roster made it to the championship a year later, losing to Michigan State.

24 INLANDER APRIL 1, 2021

BY TED S. MCGREGOR JR. ST. JOHN’S; MARCH 18, 2000

Powered by new head coach Mark Few, the Zags proved the year before was no fluke, taking down the No. 2 seed and winning a spot in its second straight Sweet 16. Matt Santangelo had 26 points, playing all 40 minutes; a few sportscasters started pronouncing “Gonzaga” correctly.

WESTERN KENTUCKY; MARCH 21, 2009

This was the fresh, new Cinderella taking on the prototype. The Hilltoppers were seriously feisty, and it took a less-than-last-second shot (like, 0.9 seconds) by Demetri Goodson to put them away. Fun fact: Goodson switched to football and played three seasons for the Green Bay Packers.

SOUTH CAROLINA; APRIL 1, 2017

13 rebounds and six (!) blocks, previewing the skills that led the Portland Trailblazers to draft him 10th overall two months later.

FLORIDA STATE; MARCH 28, 2019

The Seminoles of the ACC are well-coached, super-athletic and very intimidating. In the 2018 tournament, they bullied the Zags and ended their season. In the rematch, Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke delivered the payback, sending the Zags to their fourth Elite Eight.

FIERCEST FOES

MIKE MILLER, FLORIDA; MARCH 18, 1999

As a freshman on a stacked team that also featured Udonis Haslem, Miller got 10 points and 11 rebounds in losing to the upstart Zags. Miller left college after leading the team to the final in 2000, and later was NBA rookie of the year and a two-time NBA champ with LeBron James in Miami.

RICHARD HAMILTON, CONNECTICUT; MARCH 20, 1999

In his final season with the Huskies, “Rip” Hamilton led his team to the NCAA championship — but only after having to squeak by the Cinderella from Spokane. He had 21 points on 9-14 shooting. He took his smooth shooting to the NBA, winning a championship with Detroit in 2004.

STEPH CURRY, DAVIDSON; MARCH 21, 2008

This was a trap all the way. The 7-seeded Zags get sent to North Carolina to play a local team with a skinny kid who apparently could shoot pretty well. That kid? The now-legendary Steph Curry. He hung 40 on Gonzaga, with eight three-pointers, on the way to beating Gonzaga and nearly leading his team to the Final Four.

TY LAWSON, NORTH CAROLINA; MARCH 27, 2009

What started out as a demonstration of the beautiful game by both sides quickly got out of hand as point guard Ty Lawson orchestrated a masterpiece with his stacked ensemble (Danny Green, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington). The Tar Heels went on to win the tournament.

JIMMER FREDETTE, BYU; MARCH 19, 2011

It’s easy to forget, but BYU used to play in the Mountain West. In fact, 2011 was their last year before moving to the WCC. Jimmer Fredette was the biggest college scoring sensation since Adam Morrison, and he did not disappoint with 34 points, including seven three-pointers, in an 89-67 win.

ZAGS ON FIRE

DAN DICKAU V. VIRGINIA; MARCH 16, 2001

When the Zags landed transfer Dan Dickau from the mighty UW, it served notice that the little team from Spokane was taking things up a notch. And his impact was on full display here, as he racked up 21 first-half points on the way to 29 for the game. Gonzaga needed every point in the 86-85 upset.

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS PHOTO

ADAM MORRISON V. XAVIER; MARCH 16, 2006

The scoring machine with the wispy ’stache was teased by Xavier fans throughout. But in the end, he shut them up by dropping 35 points, including two free throws to seal it. How much did he want it? He jumped into the scrum on a rebound, winning the ball and drawing that final foul.

STEVEN GRAY V. DAVIDSON; MARCH 21, 2008

All eyes were on Steph Curry in this one, but Gray also went off, with seven three-pointers. Fun fact: Just as current Zags Corey Kispert and Anton Watson are Washington recruits, Dickau (Prairie High, near Vancouver), Morrison (Mead) and Gray (Bainbridge Island) were Evergreen State talents.

DOMANTAS SABONIS V. UTAH; MARCH 19, 2016

Jakob Poeltl is a great basketball player, now with the NBA’s Spurs. He’d be showcasing his skills to scouts in this one against Domantas Sabonis — maybe the only recruit to pass on a $630,000 European contract to play for GU. Sabonis had 19 points and 10 rebounds; Poeltl had 5 points and four rebounds.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

BRANDON CLARKE V. BAYLOR; MARCH 23, 2019

When you play for San Jose State, not everybody knows your name. But when you transfer to Gonzaga, then go nose to nose with Zion Williamson and beat him in Maui, people get to know you. Clarke’s stat line against Baylor later in March Madness looks like a misprint, but it’s not: 36 points, eight rebounds, five blocks.

FINAL FOUR ON SATURDAY

For the second time in school history, Gonzaga is heading to the Final Four. And they’re doing so on one of the most impressive college basketball runs in history. After an undefeated regular season — a season anything but “regular” thanks to COVID-19 — and run through the West Coast Conference tournament, the Zags dispatched Norfolk State, Oklahoma, Creighton and USC to make it to the Final Four. If they win their next two games, Gonzaga will bring a national championship to Spokane, and be the first undefeated men’s college basketball team since Indiana in 1976.

As the Inlander went to press, Gonzaga’s opponent hadn’t been determined. The Zags will play Saturday against either Michigan or UCLA at either 2:14 pm or 5:34 pm Pacific time on CBS. A victory Saturday puts them in the national championship game Monday night at 6:20 pm.

HEARTBREAKERS

ARIZONA; MARCH 22, 2003

But for a couple bounces, Gonzaga nearly pulled off the upset of the No. 1-seeded Wildcats, finally falling 96-95 in double overtime. Both teams had plenty of firepower, with Luke Walton and Channing Frye going up against Rony Turiaf and Blake Stepp. Tough loss, but a definite character-builder.

UCLA; MARCH 22, 2006

This one still hurts, as the Bruins went on an 11-0 run to finish the game, winning 73-71. NCAA co-player of the year Adam Morrison’s tears flowed after the buzzer; two UCLA players helped him off the floor in a show of sportsmanship they still play on highlight reels.

WICHITA STATE; MARCH 23, 2013

Gonzaga earned its first-ever No. 1 seed, but they ran into a buzzsaw in fellow mid-major Wichita State, which hit 14 three-pointers including, at one point, five straight. The Shockers were for real, making it to the Final Four as a 9-seed and going undefeated the next regular season.

DUKE; MARCH 29, 2015

So this is what it feels like at the grown-up table. Starting in 2014, Gonzaga ended their next four seasons against Arizona, Duke, Syracuse and North Carolina. Championships ain’t easy. Missing a chance to pull into a tie late against an uber-talented Blue Devils squad, the Zags lost by 14.

NORTH CAROLINA; APRIL 3, 2017

After a tough loss to Villanova in the 2016 Final, the Tar Heels turned it around to win a bit of a weird championship game with lots of whistles and 52 total free throws. Still, the squad from Spokane did everyone very proud and gave us a taste. Four years on, it lingers and Zag Nation wants more. And here we go... n

JAMIE SCHWABEROW/ NCAA PHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES