“Quiche Lit”: The Next Big Thing?

Move over, chick lit. According to a recent article in Publisher’s Weekly, the new trend is food-inspired fiction where cooking is part of the plot, and memoirs where there might even be recipes. They’ve dubbed it “quiche lit.” Entertaining Disasters, by Nancy Spiller, is one example (at left).

In the way of fiction, I can see it. I mean, there’s that whole sex-and-food connection anyway, so maybe plate-lickers will replace bodice-rippers as the trashy read of choice for legions of horny, hungry women.

Just kidding. The PW article goes on to explain that these books actually do emphasize the “lit,” with well-crafted writing.

But as far as lumping food-related memoirs into this new trend, that’s much more of a stretch. Unless you want to credit M.F.K. Fisher for jumpstarting things a century ago, with her personal accounts of cooking, traveling, and flirting with strangers around the world.