What is in a name?

I have a book two, or book three?

In this little space I have been writing extracts from my first novel, as a way to get it out into the world. It may never happen but I sort of promised myself I would attempt to finish it by the end of the year. Who knows.

But the other book I am working on is more in line with my ‘usual’ work. And I welcome feedback and comment on - WTF should I call it?

I like the idea of a single word, with a long subtitle. But maybe that is a book naming trend. My natural inclination is do with something very long, I love a long title. But that is not sellable… or is it? Maybe it gets a nickname?

What is the book? The book is looking deeply into some of the ingredients that make up our spirits. It is looking at agriculture, trade and some of the somewhat forgotten ingredients. I’d like to do just do four ingredients, but lets see how carried away I get. I am very keen at diving into the Indian Ocean trade routes, pre European colonialism, do de-centre the idea that the birth of global trade came with this colonialism. And to also demonstrate the harm of hyped up trade, within capitalism. Tracing the history of ingredients, to tell the story of the world.

Why do I need a name now? Because the people that buy books are the sales and marketing teams, and a good name helps them see how it can be sellable - where it sits on the bookshelves, and also is a title that is a bit sexy, like, is it catchy etc etc. Of course, the title can change! But! At this stage, a good book title goes along way. And it does help focus the book and research. This is the same as when pitching an article, getting a good headline helps an editor imagine the piece, and helps to focus the piece.

I think I will look at these ingredients:

Coriander - the second most common botanical in gin. Through this I will also explore the spice trade, the back and forth exchange of spices/produce between the mediterranean and Asian regions. And also, touch on juniper as it will be hard not to bring it into the conversation when addressing gin. (Do I also delve into quinine here? I don’t know - I would love to, but maybe too much?)

Sugar Cane - rum is the most obvious spirit to think of when speaking about spirits and agriculture, and it is now being spoken about in terms of the slave trade, colonialism and trade. But, I think there is so much missing from the story, rum and sugar cane is still being spoken about in terms of flavour and not really about the idea of how it is grown, why it is / was grown. And also the story beyond rum. This is a bit of a ‘you think you know, but really you don’t’ chapter.

Rhubarb - this is somewhat abstract or niche. But it feels like a story of nation building, in a small way: the identity of Rhubarb in current British contemporary culinary worlds with the forced rhubarb season! For one, but also the nation state of renaissance Florence. It is a chapter about how ‘our’ gardens came to be, and how they they are more global than we realise (is there any such thing as ‘local’? tbh?). And how so many spirits come from home gardens - the European herbaceous liquers for sure, but it isn’t just a global north story, we make from what we have. I also found a really lovely poem about rhubarb that I want to put in it, reason enough for a chapter!!!

Trees - this is, I think the last chapter. It has become a modern story of trade, trend and perceived value. The whisky and aging story around barrels is one we mostly know, but it is one that is critiqued within a wider context of capital. It is also an ancient story, aging spirits is not new - probably dive into spirits from outside of the global north, eg. arracks, and the influence Scottish whisky making on the rest of the world. It was also look at the interests in native woods, the idea of working with forests, a hope for a way forward for the industry. But also, I don’t think we think about trees enough, we barely think about them as ingredients (providing ingredients) let along the roles they play in agriculture. For Sourced we did a whole season on trees because of this - so it will be expanding on the role of trees.

This is probably more about four sections, with multiple chapters. Although I would prefer an odd number, so I might add another section! There are some many things I can talk about and want to research I just want to make sure that it is delving into a wider context.

So - titles!?

I like the idea of hidden-ness - but these topics aren’t unknown so not sure if that works? But the stories of them are often hidden.

It needs to have something about drinks or spirits in it, to show it focusing on drinks and not a general ingredients book.

It is about history, but I don’t want it to be a History Book. I am not a historian, I am more about the social and cultural context of these things - the look at power and identity.

I think something about the identity of spirits is good. Because all of these are about identity! How a spirit is understood. I imagine I’ll probably talk about the way spirits are marketed, the way these ingredients become that story line.

What I have… (and any number of combinations of these):

• From Forests and Gardens: hidden ingredients that define our spirits

• Forests and Gardens: trade, agriculture and the identity of spirits

• or… trade, agriculture and the history of drinks

• From Jungles and Gardens: the history of some of our favourite spirits (drinks?)

What else?

Thank you for current suggestions!

@hauntologies

• Spirited: The Forgotten Histories of Taste, Trade and Empire in Your Glass

• The World in a Glass

• Extractive Spirits: Ingredients, Empire, and the Entangled Histories of Taste

• Spirited Routes

• (who also added this nugget: I only found out a few weeks ago that in the run up to the opium wars the Chinese commissioner placed an embargo on rhubarb to try and get the British to cooperate because it was widely believed (in China) that Europeans died of constipation without it.)

Chockie Tom

• Seeds to Stills: A Global History of Ingredients

Mark Low

• From Forests & Fields: The overlooked ingredients that define the world’s spiritts