Life imitates art

Cookbooks that tie-in to books, movies, or television shows are not new. We’ve got Downton Abbey cookbooks, The Sopranos Family Cookbook, and even Alice’s Brady Bunch Cookbook. These range from books that strive for historical accuracy to kitschy tomes following on the popularity of a current show or on nostalgia for a favorite childhood program.

Sometimes, however, the cookbooks that reference a book or movie aren’t really part of the program. We see this in the recent spate of books that capitalize on the notoriety of 50 Shades of Grey, which was recently made into a movie. Yahoo! Food reports on the phenomenon, and you can view most of the books right in the EYB Library.

Far and away the biggest hit is Fifty Shades of Chicken, which is promoted as a “parody in a cookbook.” Beginning with the introduction, the author spoofs the over-the-top prose of E.L. James’s trilogy. The second most popular is Fifty Shades of Kale, which takes advantage not only on the popularity of the book-turned-movie, but also of the “it” ingredient of the past decade.

Of course we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Fifty Shades of Bacon, because naturally there would be a bacon version. There’s also Fifty Shades of Gravy, written by an author from Kentucky who writes “from a Christian world view.” It might be safe to assume that book isn’t nearly as naughty as its namesake. Probably the only surprise is that there isn’t a Fifty Shades of Salted Caramel book.

If you have any of the “Fifty Shades” cookbooks, please let us know what you think of them, and if you’ve made anything from the books. (But please do keep all comments rated PG.)