Happy Valentine’s Day 2010
Here’s an excerpt from my forthcoming (March, 2010) Running Press release: Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices
When I cook for friends they sometimes ask if I’d consider opening a restaurant. Although I admire professional chefs and restaurateurs it’s not something to which I aspire. I love food and wine and wouldn’t want to exchange them for money. Asking someone if they’d cook for money seems a bit like asking your lover, “Have you ever thought of doing this professionally?”
Food and sex do, however, go hand-in-hand.
Which is better, food or sex? This is a topic for lively discussion, but it seems clear that food is the more reliable pleasure. Your thinly sliced Iberico ham doesn’t have to be in the mood to be eaten. You can have it whenever you want (although it is better if you let it melt on a warm plate before devouring it). When you eat Italian food, Indian cuisine doesn’t get jealous. And food can be enjoyed three times a day, every day. Of course, the ideal scenario involves a combination of these delights.
It’s not uncommon for gourmands to express their pleasure in dining with erotic allusions. Delicious dishes are often described as “like sex,” “erotic,” and “orgasmic.” But although an attractive person is considered a “dish,” the use of food descriptors probably isn’t the best way to compliment your lover.
Nevertheless, sharing food and wine with a partner, or prospective partner, is one of the most reliable catalysts for romance. The more delicious and sensually enlivening the food and wine experience, the greater the desire to follow the experience with love-making. And what better way to work up an appetite than to make love?
If you are single and assessing a prospective partner, dining is one of the best ways to learn about your date’s attitude to the sensual world. The way someone eats and drinks offers plenty of clues to behavior in the bedroom. If you are part of a couple then sharing special meals and fine wines together is one of the best ways to keep the magic alive in your relationship. As the great gourmand Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), author of The Elixir of Life reminds us, “Love is the poetry of the senses.”
Read an an interview with Michael that includes specific Valentine’s wine recommendations.
