THE GOURMAND
HOT FOOD
Words: Kelly MacLean • Illustration: Yann Le Bec
Hot Food aph·ro·dis·i·ac: a food, drink or drug that stimulates sexual desire; pertaining to Aphrodite
I’ve been fascinated by the subject of aphrodisiacs since watching Johnny Depp lick magic truffles off his fingers in Chocolat. Can stimulating chow be real? My research yielded little more than questions and creepy pop-ups, so I set off to find out for myself. Where does one go to find a love potion? An apothecary, of course. There’s a Korean herb purveyor, in a Harry Potter closet near my home in LA. I approach the woman at the counter and she shoves horny goat weed tea into my hand. “Chinese,” she says. “Working.” Fantastic! Horny goat weed, epimedium in Latin, grows wild in Asia and has been prescribed by Chinese doctors (as yin yang huo) for millennia. I decide to make a cocktail hour of it with a couple of single friends and my husband —the willing guinea pigs. I brew it up triple strength, and launch my new signature cocktail, the Horny Goat Sour. We have two each, then go out, and I watch our friends go mad for strangers more enthusiastically, I think, than usual. As for my husband and me, we seem to feel increasing irritation with each other, which could be the result of suppressing a newly pulsating sexual intensity, or of being married humans. We all agree we feel a buzzing energy, but James and I find it takes full effect the next day—we haven’t looked our downstairs neighbours in the eye since. Doctor of Chinese medicine and author of Making Babies, Jill Blakeway, confirmed my experience. “Yin yang huo is a tonic well known for its ability to enhance libido in both men and women. For men I find it increases sexual stamina and helps them sustain an erection. In women I find it increases desire.” So, either that explains the day after, or it was that other ancient remedy, make-up sex. Next, I go to Little Tokyo for sea-cucumber sushi. Many horny-hopefuls pay hundreds for these darling, flaccid ocean phalluses. But are they truly arousing or do they just resemble genitals? In Magic or Medicine?, Robert Buckman outlines the “doctrine of similarities”, whereby primitive healers sought objects of sympathetic appearance to solve medical problems—if a man looks jaundiced,
find a yellow bird to sacrifice. If there are bedroom problems, look for something phallic. The power of this idea becomes evident as you scroll through lists of aphrodisiacs across the ages: rhino horn, banana, snake, eel, leeks, oysters, orchids and coco de mer—not to mention tiger’s penis and bull’s testicles—after all, you are what you eat, right? But when it comes to sea cucumbers, I find no more thrill in them than I would any other piece of sushi, regardless of their lascivious shape. Finally, I try a different approach: a dish packed with an aphrodisiac. I cook porcini risotto with truffle oil, a recipe from Romancing the Stove by Amy Reiley. Far more delicious than yin yang huo, the truffle fills the air headily, bringing a sensual atmosphere to my kitchen in time for James’s return home. The aroma sets the stage for domestic romance—we’re starting to think there could be something to this aphrodisiac thing. And science might bear this out. Truffles contain androsterone, a male pheromone, which is why it’s female pigs that search for them. Perhaps the same pheromones work on human women? According to Dr Alan Hirsch, author of What Flavor is Your Personality?, smell is indeed a factor. “It appears food odours elicit the greatest sexual response,” he writes. Quick tip: his study ranks Good & Plenty’s liquorice candies and cinnamon rolls among the most arousing scents. Whether it’s ambiance, fragrance or appearance, food has power over the mind, and, in this, aphrodisiacs are as real as tequila. My theory is that as well as any vitamins and chi boosters they may contain, when you invoke a deity—as Native Americans make smoke to invite heavenly blessings, or bread becomes the body of Christ— divine energy is wont to oblige. I like one Greek definition of the word aphrodisiac: Temple of Aphrodite. A morsel so magnificent it’s not just worthy of the gods but a vessel for them. For Kelly MacLean’s Horny Goat Sour and Jack Czarnecki's White Truffle Scented Wild Mushroom Risotto recipes → p119
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