The Edible Series
The Edible Series is a fascinating collection of books that PanMacmillan India is making available locally. Although these originated in the UK with the incredible Reaktion Books making it a sturdy and regular offering in their frontlists. But it seems that this series has proven to be a steady bestseller, so the back and front lists exist side by side. The template it fairly simple with a detailed and concise history of the food. These are heavily illustrated with four-colour images that complement the written text beautifully. There are images from historical sources, contemporary sources, photographs, illustrations etc. At the end of every book there is a collection of recipes — a combination of the familiar and unfamiliar as the authors prefer to give a balanced representation to the geographies where the food under discussion is to be found/cooked/consumed. It is truly remarkable that in the internet age when recipes are to be easily found on the internet as well as histories, a print book series on food history has found its niche and continues to sell.
On Moneycontrol, I curate the book’s section, and carried an extract from Tea. Read here.
8 May 2025
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