Can what you drink put you in a romantic mood? Well...maybe.
What do we associate with romance? Candles, soft music, and wine usually top most people’s lists, but what about whipping up a batch of mashed potatoes, frying some okra, or laying out a bowl of sparrow brains?
These foods (if we define foods loosely enough to include sparrow brains) are among the many delicacies that have been hailed as aphrodisiacs—foods thought to stimulate libido and enhance pleasure.
Many people have heard of aphrodisiacs, but the term is currently used more for punchlines than serious purposes. It’s true, supposed aphrodisiac foods are numerous, but their effectiveness is questionable at best. Though opinions vary, most scientific evidence concludes that there are no foods proven to physically affect sex drive. But that’s not quite the end of the story.
While a bite of potato might not put your libido into overdrive, there can be something sensual about eating with someone else, and some foods are just plain sexier than others.
A lot of this has to do with the associations we develop for foods. Rare, expensive foods are often labeled as aphrodisiacs, along with bold, flavorful foods, and foods with a suggestive shape.
Though modern Americans may roll their eyes at aphrodisiacs, these foods have been revered across cultures for centuries. The term “aphrodisiac” is derived from the name of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, and the ancient Greeks were firm believers in the sexual power of foods like garlic and mushrooms. Romans turned to figs, Aztecs to chocolate.
In Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” Falstaff says, “Let the sky rain potatoes,” one of the era’s most potent aphrodisiacs. There’s no guarantee that an aphrodisiac meal will put you in the mood, but there is at least one substance that no one disputes—alcohol. So why not try out some aphrodisiac foods in cocktail form? The following cocktails use chili pepper and chocolate.
The first should get your heart racing and your face flushed from the spice, and the second should melt luxuriously on your tongue. If the chili peppers and chocolate don’t do it for you, I’m sure the vodka will.
Chili Pepper Martini
- 1 Serrano chili (adjust amount for your preference)
- ½ oz. simple syrup
- 1 ½ oz.vodka
- 2 oz pineapple juice
Rinse the chili and remove the seeds, then muddle in a shaker with the simple syrup. Add vodka, pineapple, and ice; shake and strain into a glass. Garnish with chili pepper, or rim the glass with chili powder for an extra kick.
Chocolate Martini
- 1 ½ oz. chocolate liqueur
- 1 ½ oz. Creme de Cocoa
- 1/2 oz. vanilla vodka
- 2 1/2 oz. milk
- chocolate syrup
Drizzle chocolate syrup on the inside of the glass. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into the glass. (Note: We make no guarantees of aphrodisical success.)