Intercourses
an aphrodisiac cookbook

ISBN:	0965327507
Publisher:	Terrace Pu
Pub. Date:	Jan. 1997

This is among the most heart-thumpingly beautiful cookbooks I've seen. After seeing their web site I ordered the book immediately - from the publisher, as it wasn't available yet in stores. You can now pick up a copy at your favorite bookstore and begin concocting aphrodisiacal feasts for your lover.
Aphrodisiacs? Aw, come on...
No, really! Each of the 17 chapters are devoted to a food considered an aphrodisiac by one culture or another, with varying degrees of scientific backing by modern medicine. That most rare or suggestively-shaped foods have been declared arousing at one point or another probably made the selection fairly easy. Most such foods (as discussed on my Aphrodisiacs Page) are simply very good for you, and a healthy body is a sexy body.
The fact of the matter is that these recipes, lovingly prepared, can set the stage for amorous encounters regardless of their ingredients. And if asparagus, pine nuts or basil have additional helpful properties, so much the better. Their usefulness is more than simply romantic, of course: the White Chocolate Strawberry Trifle was a great hit for me both at Thanksgiving and at an office party. Unlike most of my favorite cookbooks, not all of the recipes are from scratch, and the time and effort is often dramatically cut as a result; but the finished product never suffers.
The included dishes were tested by different people around the country, and each recipe is headed with an anecdote or commentary regarding the testing (or its aftereffects). What begins as a cookbook is then elevated to reading material of a very pleasant nature. I began this discussion, though, by saying how beautiful a book it is. If the gorgeously set, Mapplethorpe-esque pictures don't quicken your pulse, you need help. Serious help. They add a third possible function, that of a coffee table book. The conversations it sparks I guarantee to be memorable.
Predictably, I recommend this luscious book without hesitation. It does an admirable job of combining food and romance, a blend you know I approve of.

Get it now at the Bookstore!