In My Hands Today…

Science Of Spice – Stuart Farrimond

Break new ground with this spice book like no other, from TV personality, food scientist and bestselling author, Dr Stuart Farrimond.

Taking the periodic table of spices as a starting point, explore the science behind the art of making incredible spice blends and how the flavour compounds within spices work together to create exciting layers of flavour and new sensations.

This is the perfect cookbook for curious cooks and adventurous foodies. Spice profiles – organised by their dominant flavour compound – showcase the world’s top spices, with recipe ideas, information on how to buy, use, and store, and more in-depth science to help you release the flavours and make your own spice connections.

There is also a selection of recipes using innovative spice blends, based on the new spice science, designed to brighten your palate and inspire your own culinary adventures. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with that unloved jar of sumac, why some spices taste stronger than others, or how to make your own personal garam masala, this inspirational guide has all the answers.

Explore the world’s best spices, be inspired to make your own new spice blends, and take your cooking to new heights. You’ll turn to this beautiful and unique book time and again – to explore and to innovate.

In My Hands Today…

Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World – Bethany Allen

Beijing Rules is a superb expose which reveals how China learned to master capitalism which it now wields in its own authoritarian form to achieve global dominance. As Bethany Allen, the China reporter for Axios, reveals, the long-standing belief that free-trade capitalism is a democratizing force–the assumption underlying much of American and Western policy since World War II–is demonstrably false. Capitalism is actually a two-way street: if democratic values can travel in one direction, authoritarianism can travel in the other. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has successfully engineered what Cold War champions believed to be impossible: an unabashedly Communist Party leading a prosperous capitalist state.

Written by the first American journalist to expose covert Chinese influence operations in the United States, Beijing Rules includes headline-making stories of western institutions bowing to Beijing’s coercion–a glimpse of what American’s future might look like should liberal democracy come firmly under the thumb of authoritarian capitalism. Grounded in deep investigative reporting, it sounds the alarm about what we must do to prevent the loss of freedoms we now take for granted.

Poem: Before the First Page

There’s a unique thrill that comes with holding a new book in your hands, a feeling that’s hard to describe yet so familiar to every reader. The weight of the book, the crispness of its pages, and the possibilities it holds stir a sense of anticipation like no other. Each unread chapter is a promise, waiting to transport you to a world you’ve yet to explore. This moment — right before you turn the first page — is filled with hope, wonder, and the excitement of what might be discovered within. Today’s poem captures this fleeting, magical moment.

Before the First Page

The book rests in my hands, its weight so light,
Yet within it, whole worlds are hidden from sight.
The cover is smooth, its spine uncreased,
A story untold, a curiosity teased.

My fingers hover on the edge of page one,
With anticipation rising, it’s just begun.
Will there be wonders, adventures untold?
Or secrets and sorrows, quietly bold?

I imagine the characters, not yet known,
Lives that will merge with my own.
Will I find heroes or friends that stay,
Long after I’ve turned the last page away?

The scent of new pages, the rustle they make,
Whispers of journeys my heart will take.
A treasure of words awaits to be found,
In every chapter, new worlds abound.

In this moment of pause, before I begin,
I wonder what stories will soon pull me in.
The joy of a book is the joy of the unknown,
Where every new story becomes your own.

In My Hands Today…

Mahabharata Unravelled: Lesser-Known Facets of a Well-Known History – Ami Ganatra

Millennia have passed since the dharma yudhha of the cousins shook the land of Bharata. But this history of our ancestors continues to fascinate us. Even today, we have passionate discussions about the people and their actions in the epic, fervidly defending our favourites and denouncing others. The number of works on the Mahabharata-adaptations, retellings and fiction-that still get written is a testimony to its enduring relevance.

While the general storyline is largely known, a lot of questions and myths prevail, such as-What was the geographical extent of the war? Did Drona actually refuse to take on Karna as his disciple? What were Draupadi’s responsibilities as the queen of Indraprastha? Did she ever mock Duryodhana? Were the women in the time of the Mahabharata meek and submissive? What were the names of the war formations during the time? What role did the sons of the Pandavas play? Does the south of India feature at all in the Mahabharata? What happened after the war? These and many other intriguing questions continue to mystify the contemporary reader.

Author Ami Ganatra debunks myths, quashes popular notions and offers insights into such aspects not commonly known or erroneously known, based solely on facts as narrated in Vyasa’s Mahabharata from generally accepted authentic sources. For a history of such prominence and influence as the Mahabharata, it is important to get the story right. So pick this book up, sit back and unveil the lesser-known facts and truths about the great epic.

In My Hands Today…

Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees – Aimee Nezhukumatathil

In Bite by Bite, poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil explores the way food and drink evokes our associations and remembrances – a subtext or layering, a flavor tinged with joy, shame, exuberance, grief, desire, or nostalgia.

Here, Nezhukumatathil restores some of our astonishment and wonder about food through her encounter with a range of foods and food traditions. From shave ice to lumpia, mangoes to pecans, rambutan to vanilla, she investigates how food marks our experiences and identities; the boundaries between heritage and memory; and the ethics and environmental pressures around gathering and consuming food.