Sit down at the table. Breathe in the sight and smells. Senses engage. Mouth starts to water. Eating is the most intimate experience we have with most people. And get a lick of this - some foods turn us on more than others. Which ones enhance our extracurricular activities? Here’s the list to turn your love for food into your foods for love.
Honey
From the Karma Sutra to the Bible, honey has long been connected to sensuality. Hippocrates prescribed it for sexual vigor. Traditional India gives grooms honey on their wedding day, and historically the honeymoon sequestered couples away with elixir of honey till the first new moon. Drippingly-sticky and viscous, honey comes from flowers looking for love. Maybe you are too?
Chocolate
photo courtesy Jack Walsh
Nothing new here, on Valentines Day more than 37 million chocolate boxes will be sold. But why? Turns out eating chocolate jolts our dopamine and PEA (phenylethylamine), the same compounds that pulse and throb through the veins of lovebirds in flight.
Also this Food of Gods, as coined by the first Mayan chocolatiers, dissolves at a simmering 97°F, just shy of human body temperature. That makes that smooth and sexy melt after you open and insert. Slip in a piece tonight while no one is looking. Rediscover the why.
Chilies
photo courtesy of Diane Choplin
Some like it hot - chilies have been an aphrodisiac thru the ages. Food foreplayin' heart pumpin', face flushin' chilies. In Foods of Love, we are making Chocolate-Covered Jalapenos and asking if one food is a cuddling-catalyst are two double-dandle? Here they are. Join us.
Basil and Rosemary
Royal herbs for the Greeks and sacred herbs in India, wives powdered their breasts with pulverized basil, and Haitian lore worshiped Erzulie goddess of love for the gift of these plants. Medieval women scented bath water with rosemary to allure men, and some of us still do. A true love potion, rosemary evokes scent memory and deep emotion. In cooking class, we’ll infuse both herbs with olive oil and garlic (strangely considered another food of love) into Basil and Rosemary Aphrodisiac and massage it all over the bodies of those in attendance. We also plan to tickle you with rosemary twigs until you scream.
Red Wine
Coit Tower, San Francisco
“Let us drink up this wine, that we may do utterly away with the cowardice of shame and get us to the courage of pleasure.” The Bacchus-in-all lowers inhibitions and highlights our fantasies. Open a bottle tonight. To courage of pleasure!
Still need that Valentines gift?
1) Gather the love foods in a basket, print out this blog, tie with red ribbon and set atop rose pedals for sweetie.
2) Better yet, get her tickets to ZinEx – the 25th anniversary of the Zinfandel Experience (ladies, you’ll thank me). It’s tastings, seminars and dinners honoring America’s Heritage Grape. 150 original Zinners pour this drink of gods all weekend. This is quite an event, even for a California Girl who zins often. Food Party! supposedly landed an interview with the “deepest, darkest, dirtiest ZinEx vintner in California,” so come back for that. Maybe we’ll all get lucky?
3) And if none of this makes any sense, just remember the Law of Signatures. What a vegetable or fruit looks like is what it is good for. We’ve Food Partied! about it before. Give cauliflower to the partner who wants to be smarter (looks like brain) and apples to one who wants more of your love (looks like heart). Curvy avocados to excite the humors of your woman, while carrots, bananas and stiff zucchini are perfect for that special guy :) .
And with that firm reminder, time to stop writing and start nibbling on other noble pursuits.
Happy Valentines!
ZinEx San Francisco
February 25 -27th
Check website for all the events including:
The Grand Tasting at Pier 27
Sat, Feb 27th, 11 AM – 5PM
Food, fun and the most comprehensive showing of Zinfandels and blends in the world. Don’t miss!
photos are from me, unless they are not.
