Contents
Cover
About the Book
About the Author
Dedication
Title Page
Introduction
Alcohol
COCKTAILS
Dirty Vodka Martini
Rose Petal Martini
CHAMPAGNE
Vanilla Thriller Champagne Cocktail
RED WINE
Mulled Port Mirabilis
Fruit
BANANA
Glorious Morning Smoothie
DURIAN
Durian Fruit Salad and Black Coconut Rice Pudding
FIG
Honeyed Figs with Goat’s Cheese and Purple Basil Crostini
MANGO
Mango Lassi
Mango Salsa with Caramelised Scallops and Bok Choi
PINEAPPLE
Pineapple with Chilli Gunpowder
Coconut-water Pina Colada
QUINCE
Quince Jelly
WATERMELON
Margarita Watermelon
Aromatic Duck and Watermelon Salad
All Things Animal
CHEESE
Fondue Normande
EGGS
Scrambled Eggs with Roast Field Mushroom
Smoked Haddock Oeufs-en-Cocotte
FOIE GRAS
Salt-Cured Duck Foie Gras with Mirabelle and Sour Plum Caramel
Seared Duck Foie Gras with Roast Cod
HONEY
Honey, Lemon and Ginger Sorbet with Honey Vodka
IGUANA
Roast Iguana with Chipotle and Oregano Marinade
STEAK
Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Agave Steak Tartare served ‘Black and Blue’
VENISON
Slow Roast Haunch of Venison with Braised Red Cabbage
Vegetables
ARTICHOKE
Boiled Artichokes with Béarnaise Sauce
ASPARAGUS
Asparagus with Poached Egg, Hollandaise and Smoked Salmon
AVOCADO
Avocado and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad with Sweet Basil Dressing
Avocado with Crab, Chervil and Samphire
BROAD BEANS
Broad Bean Tapenade
CELERY
Celery Crudités with Lime Satay Sauce
FENNEL
Fennel Velouté with Fennel-Seed Parmesan Crisps
TOMATO
Cheat’s Bloody Mary
Bloody Margarita
TRUFFLES
Truffle Linguine with Savoy Cabbage and Lardons
Seafood
ANCHOVIES
Pasta alla Puttanesca
CAVIAR
Potato Blinis
LOBSTER
Lobster in a Bag
Classic Lobster Bisque
MUSSELS
Saffron and Coconut Moules Marinières
OYSTERS
Sauce Bon Viveur
Watermelon and Daikon Salsa
PUFFERFISH
SEA URCHIN
Linguine ai Ricci di Mare
Eggs Oursinade
Herbs
BASIL
Tulsi Tea
MINT
Peppermint Fondants
ROCKET
Rocket, Avocado and Beef Tataki Rolls
ROSE
Rose and Pomegranate Turkish Delight
Spices
CHILLI
Green Mango and Crab Summer Rolls with Chilli Dipping Sauce
GARLIC
Garlic Beurre Maison
Roast Garlic and Butter Bean Soup
GINGER
Crispy Beef with Ginger Fries
MUSTARD
Cider and Celery Banger Mustard
NUTMEG
Florentine Macaroni Cheese
Pumpkin Cake with Nutmeg Frosting
PEPPER
Black Pepper Baby Squid
SAFFRON
Smoked Haddock and Saffron Fish Pie
VANILLA
Eton Mess
Vanilla Panna Cotta with Poached Peach and Strawberries
WASABI
Tuna Tartare with Soba Noodle Salad
Wasabi and Ginger Salad Dressing
Nuts, Seeds and Grain
ALMONDS
Devilled Almonds
Marzipan-Stuffed Apricots
Raspberry Macaroons
CHOCOLATE
Aphrodisiac Hot Chocolate
Chambéry Truffles
OATS
Oat and Goji Granola
Hazelnut Cranachan
PINE NUTS
Pesto Genovese
Pine Nut and Basil Cheesecake
Anaphrodisiacs
CHASTEBERRY
HOPS
SOY
LETTUCE
CHERRY
Acknowledgements
Index
Copyright
About the Book
Of life’s many joys, the pleasures of the table and the delights of the boudoir are without question what make life worth living.
Mark Douglas Hill has spent a lifetime in pursuit of foods that encourage friskiness and enhance the frisking. In search of the ultimate aphrodisiac dishes, over the years he has researched and refined, trialed and tested ingredients and recipes from all over the world. This compendium of culinary come-ons is the legacy of his unceasing quest.
The Aphrodisiac Encyclopaedia is a veritable cornucopia of titillating titbits – from liquorice to lobster, figs to foie gras, and mango to mint. Along with mouth-wateringly tempting recipes, each entry is packed with diverse and diverting fact – historical, literary, biological and psychological – and the aphrodisiac and amorous qualities of each ingredient examined and appraised.
Dig in and delight in the dainties unearthed for your delectation and deviation in this devilishly delicious cookbook.
About the Author
Mark Douglas Hill is an epicurean, glutton, sybarite, sensualist and bon viveur, and proud of it. Educated at Edinburgh University and Leith’s School of Food and Wine, he was owner and executive chef of The Well Dressed Salad Company until its sale in 2007. Mark now owns UANDI, a gourmet boutique hotel in the Andaman Islands and continues to work as a food consultant for a number of leading restaurant chains and food companies. This is his first book.
To long lunches and lie-ins – and everyone who enjoys them.
Introduction
The pleasures of the table and delights of the boudoir are my raison d’être. Without these very pillars of existence my lot would be grim and grey indeed. For I am a bon viveur: an epicurean, glutton, sybarite and sensualist – and damn proud of it too!
I have spent a lifetime diligently in pursuit of all the good things life has to offer. The world has been my oyster and I have slurped it down and bellowed for more. To my dismay, I observe that an exuberant enjoyment of gastronomy does not always prelude a postprandial degustation of more fleshly delights. In fact, all too frequently, and terribly regrettably, a heavy meal is a wet blanket on the fire of desire. Thankfully, it does not have to be this way. One can have one’s cake and eat it. Far from extinguishing passion, there are some blessed ingredients that actively incite a digestive tumbling: foods that encourage friskiness and enhance the frisking. I am referring to what are commonly known as aphrodisiacs.
Aphrodisiacs intrigue me. Over the years I have researched and refined, trialled and tested ingredients and recipes from all over the world. I have experienced smells, tastes and sensations from near and far, the memories of which rise unbidden at unguarded moments. Flowery Turkish delight over a solitary narghile in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul; fresh sea urchin aboard my yacht, bobbing on the Adriatic
; roast iguana in the Yucatán served up by a Mayan mama in a jungle hut; an oozing mango plucked in the primordial rainforest of the remote Andaman Islands. A midnight feast of vintage champagne and royal beluga caviar prepared by an alabaster princess in St Petersburg; mouth-tingling puffer-fish sashimi shared with some shady Yakuza in a dark Tokyo nightclub. From high society to the demi-monde, from the exquisitely refined to the frankly savage, I have tucked in regardless. The pursuit of pleasure is a passport to strange places and stranger faces. It has taken me on a merry dance. I have dined and dallied to my heart’s content, sowing wild oats with enthusiastic abandon. Modesty forbids too much candour; suffice to say my efforts have never been met with anything short of ecstatic approval and total satisfaction. Now in my twilight years I have dedicated myself to the catalogue of my experiences, and the creation of this compendium. A veritable smorgasbord of aphrodisiacs, it will be a gift to future generations, the legacy of a lifetime’s research, a reference and resource to aid, abet and amuse the bon viveurs of tomorrow.
Aphrodisiacs have been a preoccupation of man since the dawn of time. Civilisations, from ancient to modern, have sought to enhance their sexual experience, experimenting with substances ranging from the everyday and delicious to the truly bizarre and positively disgusting. The list includes such unappetising eccentricities as whale’s bile, embryonic eggs and pulverised beetles. In my encyclopaedia I have ignored these culinary abominations, focusing my efforts exclusively on those truly edible aphrodisiacs. Ingredients one can consume with genuine gastronomic pleasure. Also off the menu are the body parts of rare animals. There is a time and a place for a tiger’s penis. That place is a frisky lady tiger under a full moon. It is not in a steaming bowl of oriental soup.
Edible, ethical or otherwise, aphrodisiacs enjoy mythic reputations. These magical properties, however, remain shrouded in mystery and distinctly metaphysical. My aim is to untangle truth from tittle-tattle and lift this fog of confusion. The application of science and nutritional know-how has sifted pretender from contender, identifying and illuminating the empirical evidence underpinning aphrodisiac reputations. The final flourish is a soupçon of culinary creativity unleashed in a set of stylish yet simple recipes. A user’s guide to unlock the amorous and gastronomic potential of each featured aphrodisiac. No pot has been left unstirred, no titbit untried or delicacy undevoured.
I welcome you to these pages. Dig in and delight in the dainties unearthed. Diversion, deviation and delectation await.
Bon appétit!
Author’s Note
All recipes serve two
Alcohol
IT SEEMS INCREASINGLY true that without the miracle of alcohol there would be no sex. Mankind would surely founder in a bog of inconsequential small talk and missed sexual opportunity. In our increasingly sedate and sterile world, a skinful of booze has become the ultimate aphrodisiac. Euripides, the great Greek tragedian, hit the nail on the head in 405 BC, professing with the righteous passion of a tipsy playwright that ‘if wine ceases, there will be an end of Love, an end to every pleasure in the life of man’. And the man has a point, for cast your mind over your own sexual escapades and count yourself unusual indeed if you can honestly say that alcohol played no part in proceedings.
Producing alcohol is one of man’s oldest and most enduring preoccupations. The ancient Egyptians were early pioneers, developing detailed hieroglyphic recipes for the production of beer and wine. Enjoyed at all social occasions, booze lubricated both social and spiritual life. The Greeks expanded this tradition of tippling with the cult of Dionysus (also known as Bacchus), god of wine and wildness. After dark, deep in the wilderness, celebrants would gather to commune with their god, freeing themselves from the constraints of civilisation with wine, wild drumming, frenzied dancing and ecstatic copulation. Distillation originated in India; gradually percolating westwards it gave rise to brandy and whisky in the early Middle Ages. From this time on the variety of alcohol available to the amorous of intention has ballooned to a bewildering array of beers, wines, spirits and liqueurs, each with its own specific quirks and qualities.
Despite its bawdy reputation, the physiological and psychological reality is that alcohol can turn from a potent aphrodisiac into the exact opposite. The key, rather boringly, is moderation. Alcohol’s wildly divergent effect directly depends on the degree of one’s drunkenness, just as likely to result in a snoring stupor as a bed-breaking bout of bonking. Mild inebriation is most typified by a euphoric state characterised by increased confidence, sociability and good humour. Under the influence, inhibitions are shrugged off. Self-restraint weakens whilst coordination remains more or less intact: so far, so good. Imbibe further and things start to unravel surprisingly swiftly. The carouser enters a state of excitement, experiencing emotional instability, loss of critical judgement and impairment of perception, memory and cognition. Poor judgement, blurred vision and an equally annihilated adversary might just lead to an enthusiastic fumble on the dance floor. Try for a quick round of hide-the-sausage, however, and one will sadly find one’s supposed saveloy distinctly chipolata. Needless to say, drinking more will assist neither seduction nor sexual congress and should remain firmly the preserve of drowning sorrows.
Science strongly supports moderation. Obtuse as ever, most of us cling to the conviction that excess alcohol is the key to carnal delights. In a way we are right. Several bottles of plonk may not score the proverbial home run but they could be the necessary crutch in a hobble to first base. The sober mind cowers at the crushing consequence of possible rejection. Advances are almost unthinkable without a large measure of Dutch courage. Equally strongly engrained is the belief that almost certain rejection can be evaded only by pickling the object of our affection. Indeed, the enthusiasm with which a date submits to said sousing is often a suitor’s best guide to amorous availability; five shots of tequila sends signals that a small white wine spritzer somehow does not.
COCKTAILS
To my mind the best way to win hearts and minds through alcohol is via the medium of cocktails. You can tailor a cocktail to your companion’s tastes, suavely prepare it with an arsenal of shiny chrome gadgets, name it after them and still sneak a gallon of hard liquor into a drink that mysteriously tastes no stronger than lemonade. One such suave seducer is the Rose Petal Martini, heady with the floral bouquet of horticulture’s most sensual bloom. Serve in iced Martini glasses sprinkled with rose petals, easy on the eye and even easier on the tongue. Ladies should look no further than a Dirty Vodka Martini, mastery of which should be all that is needed to unleash a man’s licence to thrill.
Dirty Vodka Martini
Ice : Plenty
Vodka (Belvedere) : 100ml
Olive brine : 1 tbsp
Dry vermouth (Noilly Prat) : 1 tbsp
Green queen olive (brined) : 1
As this drink is essentially pure vodka, the quality of the vodka is paramount. My Martini vodka of choice is Belvedere, which is smoother than Roger Moore himself. To prepare the cocktail, first place your Martini glass in the freezer. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour over it four 25ml shots of vodka, a tablespoonful of olive brine and ½ a shot of dry white vermouth, and my preference is for Noilly Prat. Although Mr Bond is firmly pro shake, I am a staunch stirrer when it comes to Martinis, which unlike shaking guarantees a clear cocktail. Thirty seconds to a minute of stirring should suffice. Strain the mixed cocktail into your iced Martini glass, garnish with a large green queen olive, and serve with a smouldering look.
Rose Petal Martini
Ice : Plenty
Vodka (Belvedere) : 3 shots
Rose syrup : 1 shot
Angostura bitters : 1 dash
Dry vermouth : ½ shot
Fresh rose petals : 2
Lemon peel : 8 cm length
Following the same drill as for the vodka Martini, chill your Martini glasses and fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour over 3 measures of Belvedere vodka, 1 measure of rose syrup, a dash of Ango
stura bitters and ½ a measure of dry vermouth. Stir for a minute, then strain into your chilled glasses and garnish with a couple of perfect rose petals and a twist of lemon peel. If you cannot lay your hands on rose syrup (look out for Monin’s), you can use Lanique’s rose liqueur or simply make your own by steeping ½ a cup of dried rose petals in a cup of water with a cup of sugar. Leave overnight and strain out the petals.
CHAMPAGNE
Be it a white wedding in the Shires or a sordid weekend in Pigalle, no beverage offers quite the same romantic possibility as a chilled bottle of bubbly. Champagne roars of sauciness, seduction and sex. Its exorbitant price, the weighty foiled and fettered bottle, the rituals, paraphernalia and effervescent intoxication – everything about champagne is deeply suggestive.
The seeds for champagne’s lofty reputation were sown in the Dark Ages. In 496 AD the barbarian king Clovis I was baptised in Reims, capital of the champagne region. The affair was rather miraculous, involving a dove sent from heaven, a sacred phial of oil and a saintly bishop. It also proved to have momentous consequences as Clovis went on to unite France under Catholicism and become its first king. Reims has been the ceremonial location for the coronation of French kings ever since. At the coronation after-parties the tipple du jour has always been the local brew – champagne.
The wine enjoyed by Clovis and his cronies would have little in common with that of today. The first innovation, widely attributed to Dom Pérignon, was the creation of bubbles. Cellar master at the monastery of Épernay in the late seventeenth century, he started bottling the local wine before fermentation was complete. The gas released by the ongoing fermentation was reabsorbed, creating champagne’s now trademark fizz. This development was perfected in the nineteenth century with the secondary fermentation of the méthode champenoise. The final innovation was the emergence of the dry style of modern champagne. This dates back to 1846 when Perrier-Jouët decided not (or perhaps forgot) to sweeten the wine bound for England. The English loved it and in 1872 the brut style of champagne was officially recognised and modern champagne was born. Cheers and bottoms up to that.
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