Aphrodisiacs Galore

My husband and I were invited to an Aphrodisiac-Themed Dinner Saturday night.

Yes, you read that right. An Aphrodisiac-Themed Dinner.

Crab, avocado, oysters (oh, the OYSTERS!), shrimp, arugula, quail eggs(!), passionfruit, nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, bananas, chilis…the list goes on and on.

We started our first course at about 8 and didn't finish till after midnight.

A couple who are friends of ours had six couples (for a total of twelve) over for dinner on Saturday night. Each couple was responsible for bringing one course for the meal, and one alcoholic beverage/drink. All had to contain food aphrodisiacs.

We agreed at the beginning of the evening that no one was to ask, "Hey, where did Colette and Mr. Colette go?" if we noticed someone was missing. And our hosts said if we needed to, we could bring A sleeping bag in case we needed to stay over. Only one, though.

This group of people gets together every other month for an event like this (not an aphrodisiac dinner) and they call it Cooking With Friends. They all love to cook, and they all cook well, and each time they get together, there's a theme.

We're not a regular part of the group, but for some reason, we were invited to the Aphrodisiac themed dinner.

Huh. Wonder why that was.

Anyway, the dish I made was fabulous and super super easy. So I thought I'd share it for anyone who's interested.

CRAB AVOCADO COCKTAIL

Can of unsweetened coconut milk (use only one-third of the can for 8 oz of crab)

1 Tablespoon honey

Juice of one lime

1 serrano chili, chopped fine

2 Tablespoons red onion, sliced thin

salt and pepper

8 oz lump crab meat

Mix the coconut milk with the peppers, onion, honey, lime, salt and pepper and then fold in the crab. Let it marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Then fold in 1 diced avocado (or less if you like) and let sit for ten minutes. When you're ready to serve, scoop out the crab/avocado mixture with a slotted spoon and put it in a martini glass. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, serve with a small fork.

Yum.

If I remember later, I'll share the recipe for the drink we made. Passionfruit Punch it was called. Lovely. Very strong. But lovely.

What's your favorite aphrodisiac?

Spice For Your Tea?

The name of our site got me to thinking about what it is we'd want to "spice" our tea with, should we be engaging in an evening of...well, let's not beat around the bush (heh!) here, gals...we're all adults.

...For an evening of lurid, luscious, non-stop sex! Er...at least for the characters in our books.

So I did a quick Google (doesn't that sound dirty? Or is my mind in the gutter? I'm going to Google you. Will you Google me? Can I watch while you Google me?)

Okay, sorry.

Anyway, I did a quick Google (*giggle*) for aphrodisiacs, and found a common Chinese drug, complete with its own advertising copy. Opium, apparently, is the most famous of Chinese aphrodisiacs, because, according to the Jin P'ing Mei,

Take but a speck of this, set it upon you, then
Rush like a whirlwind to the bridal chamber
The first engagement will leave you full of vigour;
The second, even stronger than before.
Though twelve exquisite beauties, all arrayed in scarlet, wait your onset
You may enjoy each one, according to your fancy ...
And so on and so forth ~
"Ten women in one night will be as one to you."

Sounds promising to me!

And then there is the direct translation of Jin Pi'ng Mei, which is a Chinese novel of explicit sexuality, aka, erotica. "The Plum in the Golden Vase."

That is erotic. Makes me want to quiver. How delicate and lovely that sounds!

So...fellow authors, is it oysters, chocolate, or opium for your heroes and heroines?

And as a reader, does it bother you if the characters in the book indulge in a bit of hashish before embarking on their orgies? (As they do in The Count of Monte Cristo!)

Do tell!