Smells and Bells

As Valentine's Day is approaching, our attention turns to the sensual side of our senses. Ackerman states on page 130, “Sexual hunger and physical hunger have always been allies.” Restaurants are currently preparing their menus full of foods to be served called aphrodisiacs. Newspapers and magazines are publishing articles about what to whip up for your loved one in the kitchen this February 14th with tips on using aphrodisiacs to set the mood. Foods like oysters, champagne, asparagus, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, bananas, avocados, blowfish, eels, cucumber, tomatoes, honey, coffee, cinnamon, chilies, ginger, garlic, figs, caviar, chocolate, and the list goes on. Aphrodisiacs have been used throughout history from Elizabethan brothels offering prunes to Marquis de Sade lacing his bon bons with spanish fly that he served to his friends and prostitutes, reported by Ackerman on page 131. But what makes these rumored foods so sexual and what exactly are they doing to our...