In my mind Nigel Slater, that wonderfully warm looking, terribly famous British food writer, will always smell of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows while domestic Goddess Nigella Lawson, despite her bestseller being called 'Feast', will always set me off on the more homely mom-home-apple pie route.

Okay, this is not a piece about the aromas that I love...that were just to prove how writing about food can be so appetite-whetting. Can you deny that you were dreaming about tucking in, just now?

Food and writing have always been as perfect as fish and chips. Both are colourful and soul-sustaining; emotional and moody creatures; both inspire love (think cream brulee) and disappointment (er..flat souffle perhaps?), and both are powerful memory triggers. Just as a single sentence can set you off a nostalgic journey, so can the mention of a single aroma — be that of baking bread or that last tadka of curry leaves, hing and jeera...

Not surprising than that food literature is so hot. Every self-respecting chef is popping out with travelogues, recipe books with a difference, autobiographies and even the odd novel. Take Nigel Slater's latest bestseller 'Eating for England' — part autobiography, part nostalgia, part recipes, part regrets, (for the iconic and traditional foods that are disappearing from the table)….the book has been hailed as a must-read for those who love British food and can tolerate British eccentricities! Jay Rayner, the acidic food critic, has a new book out (and as he concedes himself, he often does!).

There is the delicious and funny 'Julia Project' where young blogger Julie Powell labours through Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. Her laugh-out-funny blog jottings of cooking successes and mishaps are now being brought out as a book. A cursory google search reveals nearly 200,000 food-related blogs — some generating great writing on food such as The Guardian's food blog 'Word of Mouth' and others like the 'Well Fed Network' even announcing annual food blog awards!

Publishable grub
Even newspapers, once satisfied with printing recipes taken from grandmothers' dog-eared recipe notes, today have dedicated food editors who double up as travel writers as they run around the earth in search of publishable grub. One such attempt by Vir Sanghvi  —'Rude Food', a compilation of his columns on food and travel, still crops up sometimes on bestseller lists.

The trend's only going to catch on further, what with plain food lovers getting kissed by oysters and turning into gourmand-princes and  ultra-glam chefs getting a taste of literary success.

So decide whether you want to stop reading and spoon in that strawberry mousse or put that fork down and start writing about what it did to you.

‘Living in the Kitchen’ is a fortnightly column that will bring you tidbits of information, advice and anecdotes about the gastronomic delights of the globe. Food enough for thought, we hope! Send us your responses and suggestions to dhliving@gmail.com