Ooh la la! It’s that lovey-dovey time of year again, when Cupid pulls back his arrow and takes aim, shooting into the hearts and minds of lovers all over. His arrows are filled with elixirs that send visions of chocolate and rose romance through the veins of those least expecting it. Venus of Rome gets to work, too, filling the February southeasterly cool breezes with frisky, frolicky excitement, as it rustles your hair while you take long deep breaths to fill your body with it. Then the Greek Goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, pulls out her magical bag of aphrodisiacs (named appropriately after the Goddess herself) to ensure a seductive success on the 14th. And, last but not least, the spirit of St. Valentine has us writing love letters to our objects of desire,
initiating a night of sensuality that hopefully won’t end us up in jail, stoned and then beheaded, as was the case on February 14th, 269 AD. This is how St. Valentine came to be known as the patron saint of lovers. Why does tragedy always have to accompany great love stories?
Anyway, back to romance…
Once the magic of the day has infiltrated your spirit, what will you plan for your beloved? Well, anything aphrodisiacal will guarantee a successful evening (whatever that means to you and yours). Remember that the most direct way to a man’s or woman's heart is through the stomach. As Isabel Allende, author of Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses, said, "Appetite and sex are the great motivators of history ... All of creation is one long interrupted cycle of digestion and fertility." Food and romance go together like peas and carrots, like peanut butter and jelly, like Fred and Ginger. I’d like to offer a menu for you to try when the special date comes around. The fun can be had in two parts: preparing the food together is half the fun, then sitting down to a candle-lit dinner together is the other half. So, for starters, prepare a beverage called a Bellini.
Menu for Romance:
Bellini
Radicchio, Rose Petal & Pomegranate Salad
Baked Salmon with Raspberry Cabernet Sauce
Chocolate Sauce & Strawberries
Bellini
1 bottle sparkling wine, chilled
8 ounces sweetened pomegranate juice, chilled
1 pomegranate
One of you pops open the wine bottle with a loud and powerful bang, creating some initial excitement to get the party started. Hopefully, the wine doesn’t come spewing out of the bottle uninvited. If it does, quickly open your mouth WIDE and close it over the bottle as you drink copious amounts of the bubbly unexpectedly. The other person is now giggling and eyeing you suspiciously. You then pour the rest of the wine into a large glass pitcher along with the pomegranate juice. Pour the drink into two wine glasses. Toast to the occasion, then taste it. Repeat. Now for the fun part: you’ll need a large, round, juicy, pink pomegranate. Important step: hold the pomegranate in your hands, run the palm of your hand over and around the fruit, observe its similarity to a certain part of a woman’s body, look at each other in a sinister way, then cut into it. Be careful to save any juice upon opening. It should be loaded with tiny red seeds that burst in your mouth, creating a taste sensation sensual enough to create more excitement. Take a few more sips of the wine/juice mixture. Then the two of you work together with your fingers, pulling the seeds apart as you place a few on your tongue to try, then feeding the other person some of the juicy bursting seeds. Oops, clean up any that dropped onto the other’s shirt, and the ones that went into the shirt, well, ummm... Spoon the seeds into the beverage. Toast again, drink some more.
Radicchio, Rose Petal and Pomegranate Salad
1 head radicchio, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
Petals from a fully bloomed red or pink home grown or organic rose, washed and dried (store-bought or street corner roses are NOT edible)
1 small pomegranate
2 tablespoons chopped toasted walnuts
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon pomegranate juice
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Repeat as above with that pinky juicey pomegrrr-fruity thingy, using your fingers, or you might have enough seeds left over from the other one. Retain the juice. In a small bowl, whisk walnut oil with vinegar and juice, seasoning to taste. Drink more of your Bellini. Then, in a bowl large enough for both of you, use your hands to toss the radicchio, rose petals and walnuts gently with the vinaigrette. Look for wandering, stray fingers and be sure to massage delicately and slowly! Divide salad onto two plates and sprinkle with those cute, juicy little red seeds. Drink more Bellini.
Baked Salmon with Raspberry Cabernet Sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 whole shallot, minced fine
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon raspberry preserves
Coarse ground black pepper, to taste
2 (8-ounce) salmon fillets, skinless and boneless
6 fresh raspberries, optional
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in sauté pan on medium heat; add minced shallots when butter starts to get all bubbly inside, cooking until sooooft and tender. Open the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, both should sample a cupful to check the quality, then add and cook over low heat, uncovered, until reduced by half, for about 45 minutes. In the meantime, offer to show your partner your new hand knitted blankie on the sofa that you got for Christmas. Drink a whee bit more Belililinini. Don’t forget about the pan! The saucy should be syrupy in texturey. Add lemony juicy . With that whisky thingy, quickly add raspberry preserves and butter. Remove from heat. Pour another glass of Benillilini. Preheat oven to 450 degreesh. Season salmon fillets with coarse black pepper. Place in a baking dish and cook for approximately 15 minutch, less for medium-rare doneness,
if you get there in time. Meanwhile, light the candles on the rining doom table. Turn down the lights. Turn up the music. Drink more leBellinini, taking in a few pomegra-seedies, massagggging them with your tongue...Without tripping run to the oven to get the salmon fillet out before it burns, pour saush over fish, forming pool on plate. Toss on a few fresh raspberries or somefink, whatever you can find.
Food & romance go together...
Eat well...
And don’t forget dessert!
And for desssssert…….
Chocolate sauce and strawberries
After you’ve creatively and shensually experienced dour yinner, melt your faaaavorite chocolate saucccce. Wild Oats sells a great fruit sweetened sauce that melts in your mouth, or on your berries. Dip strawberries or pour socolate chauce over them, or over somebody yummy, and mink drore neleBenellini. It’s okay to lick fingers clean here, preferabably not your own! Endorphins are produced by eating chocolate, as well as dopamine, which travels to the pleasure centers of the body commonly associated with orgasm. Ooooh laaa laaa, now that’s why chocolate is associated with Valentine’s Day!
Hopefully I’ve given you a good idea of a complete menu of aphrodisiacal foods for a delicious and memorable dinner. Be playful, have fun, get messy. But remember - the greatest aphrodisiac is your mind. To quote renowned sex expert Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Ed.D.: "The most important sex organ lies between the ears." The imagination is a terrible thing to waste!
Happy Valentine’s Day!