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Home > How To Lounge> Art & Culture > Lounge Loves: Delectable bon bons, a rare book collection and more

Lounge Loves: Delectable bon bons, a rare book collection and more

This list also includes a vegetable stall selling a variety of lemons and a documentary series that gives looks at what led to the birth of the Brawn GP Formula 1 team

Bon bons from Araku
Bon bons from Araku

Going nom nom for bon bons

I appreciate a little extra something with my coffee: a piece of chocolate, a mini tart or a tiny cookie, small bites that make it a tad special. Coffee brand Araku has a restaurant (by the same name) in Mumbai with pour overs accompanied by bon bons coated with amaranth. They look like regular laddoos but are a revelation of rich cacao notes complete with bits of cascara, which is the skin and flesh coating the coffee bean. The texture is lush, interjected with crispy amaranth bits. Needless to say, the bon bon was gobbled up in seconds. Too embarrassed to ask for a second, I thought of revisiting. Later, I found they are available on the website of Araku as a gift box.—Jahnabee Borah

Also read: New on Shelves: 4 books to curl up with

Insta joy of books

Reid Moon with his collection of rare books.
Reid Moon with his collection of rare books.

It’s people like Reid Moon and his Instagram account for Reid's Rare Books that makes this social media app still enjoyable. The antiquarian book collector and seller from Provo, Utah, in the US has an enviable collection, from medieval books on demonology and occult to a wide array of Bibles (including a miniature from 1637 with an embroidered binding), 300-year-old Qurans, a Second Folio of Shakespeare’s plays, the original shooting script for Star Wars, a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair, an 18th century Druid’s certificate of initiation, and rare first editions of books like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. His Insta account is a joy, as he shows and talks about the books in his collection, including fascinating little tidbits. My favourite is the one about the woman who placed a curse inside her Bible in 1610, addressed to all prospective thieves! —Bibek Bhattacharya

When life hands you lemons

Vegetable stall with a variety of lemons and limes
Vegetable stall with a variety of lemons and limes

Outside the wet market in Maniktala, north Kolkata, you will find a number of vegetable vendors with their wares laid out on a sheet on the pavement or on a raised platform. But one that is striking is the stall selling limes and lemons—who knew there were so many varieties? You have to go in the morning to see the display, the fruit arranged neatly in assorted containers. The vendor sits at the centre, an umbrella shading him. Behind him is a potato seller, and to their left, an apple vendor. It looks like the scene is set for a painting—or, if you are the baking kind, a lemon-apple pie. The best part is when the sun’s rays are falling across this arrangement—it’s a play of light and colour. Life is literally handing out lemons.—Nipa Charagi

The year of Brawn

Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story
Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story

The year 2009 was an interesting one for Formula 1. New sporting regulations were introduced, the likes of Toyota and BMW were still in the game, and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix became the first ever day-night race in F1. But it was the Brawn GP team— formed after Honda decided to pull out of F1 due to the global recession— that took all the headlines that year by designing a controversial yet speedy car. Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story on Disney+Hotstar, hosted by actor Keanu Reeves, is a behind-the- scenes look at what led to the birth of the Brawn GP F1 team and how their debut F1 season unfolded. This documentary series has every- thing: drama, lots of racing footage and interesting anecdotes from all involved in that remarkable season. A lovely alternative if you are ever bored of Drive To Survive on Netflix.—Nitin Sreedhar

Also read: ‘Madame Web’ review: The future is bleak

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