New Delhi, July 5 -- I landed from a cold and cosy Bengaluru straight into an East Coast heatwave in New York and Boston a couple of weeks ago. One thing that kept me going were my newly bought sneakers in New York City and the thought of spending time in my cousin Ramya's home in North Carolina on the next leg of our trip. This too was going to be in the middle of a hot Southern summer, but it held the promise of being with family, home-cooked meals and a seasonal fruit bounty that Ramya had been tempting me with, on our chats leading up to my travel.

Peaches were at the top of her list. As someone who has never lived in north India, my access to good stone fruit has always been painfully limited. Peaches may be Georgia's official state...