Of power, pleasure and the past

CONCISE, ACCESSIBLE HISTORIES OF INDIVIDUAL FOODS AND DRINKS THAT HAVE SHAPED HUMAN EXPERIENCE ACROSS CENTURIES

- NANDITA BANERJI

THERE IS a quiet joy in reading a book that is short, engaging and visually rich without sacrificing substance. Pan Macmillan India's Edible series offers just that-concise, accessible histories of foods and drinks that have shaped human experience across centuries. While each title in the 10-bookseries is a standalone exploration, I found myself particularly drawn to three of them: Saffron by Ramin Gane-shram, Chocolate by Alexander Badenoch and Sarah Moss, and Cocktails by Joseph M Carlin.

The books trace the global journey of three indulgent substances, revealing unexpected connections between the world's most precious spice, its most beloved indulgence and its most spirited libations. In doing so, they reveal how even the most refined flavours have been touched by commerce, conquest and cultural change.

Food and drink, at their heart, are stories of human ingenuity, global exchange, and even conflict. In Saffron, Ganeshram charts the remarkable story of the world's most expensive spice.

Often literally worth its weight in gold, saffron has left its mark on civilisations across millennia.