Do you want to fan the flames of passion? Cities, flavours and foods can all help make the earth move…
Blame mighty Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love, for introducing the notion of aphrodisiacs. As myth has it, she emerged from the sea bearing herbs that could inspire romance, fertility and desire.
But the aphrodisiac quality of food isn’t just the stuff of myth. Healthy eating boosts the libido, and good foods contain vitamins and minerals that enhance desire and performance.
More persuasive still is the power of scent. Oyster, with its sweet, briny aroma, is both fragrantly seductive and extravagant. Of course, the oyster’s reputation has much to do with its high zinc content (an essential mineral for male potency), not to mention its sexual resemblance and the widespread belief that Aphrodite herself was born from an oyster shell.
With that in mind, join us on a mini tour of Europe’s aphrodisiac ingredients and the best places to find them.
Even the street food in Brussels, a city with a deserved reputation for luxurious dining, rates highly in the aphrodisiac stakes. Grey shrimp croquettes and mussels (high in phosphates) found at street booths are instant libido boosters, while the Flemish speciality waterzooi – a stew made with carrots, celery, herbs, cream and eggs, which are symbolic of fertility and highly nutritious – is ubiquitous.
Endive, or chicory, which is said to ensure constancy in love, is also widely used in Flemish cooking. Über-chic Belgian restaurant Jaloa (31 Place de la Vieille Halle aux Blés, tel. +32 (0)2 512 1831, jaloa.com) serves seductive contemporary dishes, such as ocean perch with caramelised chicory, foie gras with artichoke, and lobster with basil and other arousing spices.
Alternatively, at modern baroque-designed Cospaia (1 Rue Capitaine Crespel, tel. +32 (0)2 513 0303, » www.cospaia.be, two-Michelin-star chef Jean-Pierre Bruneau is playful with his ingredients. His menu features red mullet with an intriguing gelée aphrodisique (salmon with a parfait of caviar, king crab with the ultimate luxury lard, aged with herbs in Carrera marble casks).
No visit to Belgium is complete without handmade chocolate. Good
high-cocoa solid chocolate, with its complex aroma, has long been immortalised as a mood-enhancing aphrodisiac. For couture chocolates with intriguing centres, from liquid salt caramel to saffron and Moroccan spices to ginger, head to Pierre Marcolini’s (39 Place du Grand Sablon, tel. +32
(0)2 514 1216, www.marcolinichocolatier.be
Madrid
The Spanish capital is a hotbed of new-wave culinary talent. But one traditional dish is excellent for arousing passions – garlic prawns. Garlic has long been considered a ‘hot’ ingredient for enlivening passions.
For a blatantly phallic alternative to oysters, try percebes (gooseneck barnacles from Galicia).
A pricey, acquired taste, they’re simply boiled in seawater at marisqueria (seafood restaurants) such as La Trainera (Calle Lagasca 60, tel. +34
(0)91 576 8035, latrainera.es) or the no-nonsense Ribeira do Miño (Santa Brigida 1, tel. +34 (0)91 521 9854).
Madrid’s avant-garde celebrity chef Sergei Arola serves visually suggestive dishes with alluring ingredients. His signature dish at the Michelin-starred La Broche restaurant is turbot with asparagus (Hotel Miguel, Miguel Angel 29-31, tel. +34 (0)91 399 3778, labroche. com). Asparagus, with its phallic appearance and nutritional content goes well with turbot, which is rich in protein and feelgood selenium.
Lisbon
Recently discovered by foodies and design aficionados, Lisbon is fast emerging as a city of seductive dining.
The Portuguese capital’s marisquerias offer superlative seafood especially clams, monster prawns and lobsters. For an ultra-pampering lunch, head to the glamorous marble-walled Pap Acorda (Rua Atalaia 57-59, tel. +351 21 346 4811) and order the signature Acorda Real – sumptuous lobster with shrimp.
Less well charted as an aphrodisiac is the Portuguese version of acorn-fed black foot pork. At Lisbon’s Michelin-starred Eleven restaurant (11 Rua Marquês de Fronteira, Jardim Amália Rodrigues, tel. +351 21 386 2211), chef Joachim Koeuper serves black pork loin with chestnuts and celery puree alongside aphrodisiac name-check dishes such as tuna with sesame, mango and wasabi.
For daytime wooing try the indulgent hot chocolate or, for aphrodisiacal efficacy, fall in lust with a sugary treat of divine pastries and confectionary at Pastelaria Versailles (Avenida da Republica 15a, tel. +351 213 546 340).
FR » Des mets pour vous mettre en condition…
Blâmez Aphrodite, ancienne déesse de l’amour, pour avoir introduit jusqu’à la notion même d’aphrodisiaques. D’après le mythe, elle est sortie de la mer en tenant des herbes, qui avaient le pouvoir de déclencher l’amour, le désir et la fertilité.
Mais l’aphrodisiaque n’est pas qu’un mythe – les nourritures particulières, sensuelles sont souvent riches en vitamines et en nutriments qui sont susceptibles de stimuler le désir et la performance, un bon flux sanguin, nerveux et hormonal. S’alimenter sainement fait assurément une différence sur la libido.
Le pouvoir des effluves culinaires est encore plus persuasif dans le processus de séduction, depuis l’arôme complexe du chocolat jusqu’à la douce saveur marine de l’huître, chaque culture et chaque ville a sa propre nourriture, connue pour ses pouvoirs et ses aspects sensuels. Prenez Bruxelles, une ville où l’on trouve plus d’étoiles au Michelin que dans n’importe quelle capitale européenne. De ses chocs culturels à sa remarquable cuisine populaire – la capitale belge se place en bonne position dans le classement. Suit ensuite Madrid, capitale des talents culinaires new-wave et en même temps bastion d’une cuisine traditionnelle, conservatrice. On y trouve d’excellentes tapas destinées à soulever les passions. Tandis qu’à Lisbonne, le dernier lieu d’élection des dîners séduction, il n’y a pas pénurie de propositions décadentes: depuis les sublimes fruits de mer jusqu’aux pieds de porcs et aux divines préparations, tout concourt à exciter les sens. Enfin, nous visitons Venise, l’extrême romantique, où les plats voluptueux se distinguent dans les restaurants de fruits de mer (regorgeant de tous des ingrédients nécessaires au désir). Ne ratez pas le légendaire Harry’s Bar pour un bellini – sur les traces des poètes de l’amour Proust et Bryon.
The ancient Greeks believed every part of the carrot was rich in aphrodisiac properties, so much so that they ate the roots, seeds and foliage before indulging in orgies
Venice
Almost ludicrously romantic with its maze of canals and bridges, foodies single out the local seafood restaurants such as Al Covo (Campiella della Pescaria, tel. +39 041 522 3812). Try moleche (lagoon crabs eaten whole), squid ink and bruscandoli (wild hop shoot, similar to asparagus as an effective stimulant) risotto, or pesto spaghetti with basil and pinenuts, whose sensuous qualities were well-known by the Roman love poet Ovid.
At the Michelin-starred Da Fiori (2202 Calle del Scaleter, tel. +39 041 721 308), experience risotto with the feral aroma of white truffle.
Finish off your day by drinking Bellinis (prosecco wine and fresh peach juice) at Harry’s Bar (Calle Vallaresso, tel. +39 041 528 5777), favoured by poets Proust and Byron, a must for romantics.
NL » De zin van het eten
Aan Afrodite, de Griekse godin van de liefde, danken we het begrip afrodisiacum. Volgens de mythologie rees ze op uit zee, haar armen vol kruiden om de liefde, lust en vruchtbaarheid te stimuleren.
Maar het effect van afrodisiaca is meer dan een mythe. Luxueuze, zinnenprikkelende eetwaren zijn vaak rijk aan vitaminen en andere voedingsstoffen. Dat stimuleert de bloedsomloop, zenuwen en hormonen, en dus ook het verlangen. Ook het libido stelt daarom gezonde voeding op prijs!
Maar laten we vooral de verleidingskracht van smaken en geuren niet vergeten. Elke cultuur en stad heeft zo zijn eigen potentieverhogende en opwekkende lekkernijen, van bitterzoete chocolade tot heerlijk zilte oesters. Neem nu Brussel, de Europese hoofdstad met de meeste Michelinsterren. Een waar lustoord voor de smaakpapillen: van exclusieve chocolade tot allerhande pittig ’street food’. Of Madrid, de hoofdstad van trendsettend culinair talent, tegen een achtergrond van statige, traditionele eetgenoegens. We vinden er heerlijke tapas die het gehemelte én de zinnen prikkelen. Ook Lissabon, een recentere bestemming voor verleidelijk dineren, moet met zijn heerlijke visgerechten, smeltzachte pata negra-ham en hemelszoete gebak niet onderdoen. En dan is er nog het oh zo romantische Venetië, waar loka le visrestaurants fijnproevers lokken met hun prikkelende spijskaarten. Liefdesdichters Proust en Bryon haalden er in de legendarische Harry’s Bar hun hart op bij een bellinicocktail.
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