Le Festin De L'Amour

"Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly." ~ M.F.K. Fisher

There's a scene in Sex and the City where one of columnist Carrie's male friends recounts how he met his current lover. It happens while he is doing his weekly shop at the neighbourhood local deli. Anyway, the deli lady gives him some goat’s triple layered matured cheese to sample with a butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth smile saying "This one's from France," she says, "It's made with triple cream." "Delicious," he says licking his lips. Two more samples later and the pair are indulging in a serious bit of tonsil tennis back at his place.

Food and sex share a very cozy relationship. In Laura Esquivel’s book”Like Water for Chocolate “, food becomes the vehicle through which deep emotions, many of them sexual, are released. Aphrodisiacs are commonly associated with food and drink with the premise that their consumption will increase sexual desire. Sometimes it is about the shape of the food: bananas, asparagus, and oysters. Sometimes it’s about taste: chocolate, cream, strawberries and caviar. The thing is the texture, smell and taste of an exotic dish can arouse our senses the same way we become aroused by a sexual partner.



What is this correlation between food, sex and love? There’s no getting away from it. Chocolate ads now come complete with a lover’s embrace and a half naked torso to boot. When you go out on your first date, chances are it’s in a well lit restaurant with a menu to die for and hopefully even if your date himself/herself sucks; the food ends up being your consolation prize. Some foreplay enthusiasts even recommend the incorporation of food into the going on of things e.g. the ever delectable strawberry soaked in milk chocolate teasing your lover’s taste buds, or the versatile can of double whipped cream and warm melted honey drizzled on your lover’s skin, or the clever can of chocolate paint complete with brush for you to paint your lover’s bits with from Ann summer’s! Hands up those who remember that scene where Samantha Jones from Sex and the City covered her lady bits in sushi and awaited her beloved complete with gold manolos and Lorraine Schwartz jewellery?

I’ve always said that the act of feeding your lover is one of the ultimate signs of love. The real link between sex and food is love. Personal confession time- I’ve done a 2 hour train journey to Dolston market from Birmingham to the lover’s home complete with an array of Nigerian foods and did not finish cooking till about 11pm and I’d do it again not for him of course but the act of cooking, sharing and eating food while being intimate is an integral part of the experience.