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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780977412044 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Life of Reiley |
| Publication date: | 02/01/2010 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| File size: | 949 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Fork Me, Spoon Me
The Sensual Cookbook
By Amy Reiley, Kersti Frigell
The History Press
Copyright © 2005 Amy ReileyAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-9774120-4-4
CHAPTER 1
ingredients
almond
Almond is the world's most popular member of the nut family. Although its mythical aphrodisiac history is woven through the stories of ancient Greece and Rome, today it's also extremely popular as a romantic lure in the Far East.
Around the world, the blossoms of the almond tree are considered to be harbingers of spring, new life and the blooming of love. Matured on the tree, the fruit becomes the perfect symbol of autumn, the season during which almonds are harvested. Removed from its shell and roasted, the nut's sweet meat has an alluring hint of sweetness in any season.
Almonds are an international symbol of fertility and are considered to be an essential sexual element in Arabic pastries. They are served as a prelude to a meal in many Mediterranean cultures where natives suggest that the almond's scent will drive women wild.
serving almonds
I will never forget the first time I tasted green almonds, the fresh fruit of the almond tree, picked young and presented still in its gray-green casing. The exotic fruit was served in one of my favorite California restaurants as an accompaniment to cheese. I was instructed to carefully cut away the greenish hull, which revealed the ivory pearl housed within — the sweet, immature almond meat.
The work required to remove the delicious core from its protective shell makes eating almonds much more than a way to stave off hunger. It is an experience in which to indulge and it doesn't have to be with a green almond — I feel the same about the more common hard-shelled nuts.
Honestly, I love almonds even when they're crushed in baklava or served shelled in an earthen bowl accompanied by a glass of French rosé wine. To me, almonds are the most stimulating variety of nut, slightly bitter but still sweet meat that makes an almost celebratory "pop" when it's crunched.
chile
Chile is like the hard-core drug of the culinary world. When you slip it into a dish, it can bring an immediate, full-on flush. Used in the right proportion, it's guaranteed to make your heart pound just a little more quickly.
Chile has dazzled daring diners and medicine men from Thailand to Tahiti to Brazil. In Africa, it's been added to bathing water as a beauty aide. In Samoa, it's blended into Kava, the notorious potion of love and virility. Chile's abilities to raise body temperature and make tongues tingle and lips plump are adored the world over in the games of love. In Mexico, it's boiled in broth as a hangover cure. In Bolivia, it's blended in cocaine for a serious rush. In the Southwest, its antidote is tequila, which, I can promise from experience, will ease that pain.
hot for chile
About one in four people is born with an extremely high proportion of taste buds. Some scientists estimate they may have as many as four times the norm (inexplicably, the majority of these "supertasters" are women). For supertasters, even a hint of chile can overwhelm the senses. I am a supertaster.
But for me, the force with which chile assaults my sense of taste is no turnoff. In fact, I think the flush of heat helps to heighten chile's allure. Since chile's aphrodisiac impact is to awaken the senses and raise body heat, I am the ultimate lightweight, powerless in its clutches. This is not to say that chile's aphrodisiac effects are diminished in those with a normal number of taste buds — they are not. And for this I consider this fiery redhead the most brazen of spices.
chocolate
Chocolate is the gastronomic Helen of Troy, the most powerful object of culinary affection ever desired. It held the Marquis de Sade in a powerful embrace, and Napoleon, as well. But it was Montezuma who best understood how to harness chocolate's prowess. The ancient ruler apparently drank a ritual 50 cups of chocolate before entertaining his harem each and every day.
Chocolate is as tempting to women as to men, as was observed by Casanova. It seems that the Latin lover knew how to charm the ladies with his stash.
Many claim that chocolate's magnetism is more scientific than psychological, since chocolate contains stimulants similar to caffeine as well as to the euphoria-inducing compounds serotonin and phenylethylamine. But naysayers claim that these drugs are present in doses far too small to make a measurable difference in mood.
No matter what the true secret to its lure, chocolate is such a powerful temptation that it has been banned by governments, smuggled under the covers, and even traded as the most valuable of currencies. A rich, sweet midnight kiss, chocolate is a bite for serious lovers.
nibbling chocolate
It is my mother's firm belief that chocolate, not diamonds, is a woman's true best friend.
Although I don't share my mother's need for a daily hit of the sweet stuff, I do know that even the smallest nibble of melting, creamy chocolate can lull my taste buds into a state of complete ecstasy. And in my meanderings into aphrodisiac field research, I've concluded that dense, chocolate brownies, not oysters, whipped cream or any of the other clichés, are without a doubt my ultimate aphrodisiac food.
fig
Split down the center and cradled by a palm, the fig's pink flesh is said to resemble a woman's most personal parts. For this reason, it is believed that eating a fresh fig while naked in front of a woman is a powerfully erotic act.
The luscious fruit's womanly wiles were immortalized in the words of author D. H. Lawrence who dedicated a poem entitled "Figs" to its sensuality.
The fig is a little like a shy girl making only a brief appearance during the height of summer. A delicate fruit, it unfortunately does not travel well. The fig is usually found close to home — a freshly picked delicacy for the lucky few.
Some suspect that the fig's original home was the Garden of Eden. And some historians claim the fig was the original temptress, the true forbidden fruit.
But even those who still cling to the myth of the apple find the fig's charms to be undeniable. This soft, plump fruit is a fine source of iron and potassium — minerals much needed in the horizontal pas de deux.
celebrating figs
If it were not for the soft, plump flesh of the fig, this book would not exist.
Early in my career in food and wine, a very close friend and respected colleague shared with me her obsession with the aphrodisiac properties of figs. Together, we thumbed countless pages of research and folklore on this single topic. I could not believe how much had been written through the ages on the sensuality of a sole ingredient. For me, this awakening was the beginning of what I hope will be a lifetime of work discovering the sensual pleasures derived from foods around the globe.
The friend who introduced me to the world of sensual foods was one of the hottest mamas I've ever known. That a woman so deliciously self-empowered to celebrate sensuality to its fullest could be captivated by the arousing power of one tiny fruit led me to believe that figs are indeed gifts of great mystery and temptation.
ginger
Ginger makes a girl feel naughty but nice (think giggling Geisha). This little exotic spice can make even the most jaded food lover blush, thanks to its ability to raise body heat. Ginger also promises to make the tongue tingle and lips swell. (It recently gained popularity as the irritant in "plumping" glosses, those lipsticks promising to make lips both glossily moist and swollen. If you've never had a close encounter with this kind of gloss, put "kissing with lips swabbed by plumping gloss" on your list of 1,000 things to do before you die.)
Ginger's been exciting tongues in the Far East since prerecorded history. Fresh ginger is an affordable little nugget tucked in the corner of the produce isle. In India, it's juiced and mixed with eggs and a touch of honey to cure impotence. In days of yore, European maidens devoured gingerbread men as a ritual that was supposed to bring them husbands and a quick end to premarital chastity.
Folklore aside, ginger's ability to increase circulation is a powerful plus in making my favorite Japanese dish, "horizontal sushi." And, speaking of Japanese, ginger has a natural affinity for sake.
Play with ginger raw, pounded, pickled, and of course, candied. Any way you slice it, this little root will warm you to your core.
enjoying ginger
As a child, I never liked ginger. My parents would feed me chunks of candied ginger to treat an upset stomach, and I hated every stinging bite. As I grew older I began to discover the difference between "good" and "bad" pain, and I realized that ginger hurts so good. I love the sweet sting it brings to Asian and modern American dishes and the effect eating ginger has on my body. I love the way my lips tingle and my cheeks flush, even after the merest slice.
honey
Liquid pleasure, honey is an incurably addictive sweetener with as many styles as wine. From full-bodied to outright spicy, its varied flavors inspire chefs around the world. Honey's powers mostly manifest as a quick shot of sugar-fed energy, but its hypnotic secret is its appeal to the human longing for sweetness. A spoonful of deliciously thick honey spread on butter-drenched toast awakens the senses. But it is even more alluring when drizzled on fingers or licked from toes.
In Eastern Europe, a spoonful of this golden succulence is poured into the palms of bridal couples. Licking honey's sweet goodness from one another's hands, the newly wedded pair is supposed to discover tender caresses with which they will touch each other forevermore.
Transforming honey into alcoholic mead earns the viscous liquid a starring role in ritual intoxication. In the Middle Ages, wedding couples indulged in a long, slow drink of honey mead every day for the first month of marriage — it is from this rite that we get the word honeymoon.
Languid, silky and alluringly sticky, honey is a temptress of worldwide appeal.
serving honey
Honey makes me feel as sweet as dessert and as sensual as a leopard on the prowl. I adore this elixir licked straight from the jar.
Pulling the jar of honey out of the cupboard is like playtime. Watching golden streams drizzle from a spoon is nearly hypnotic.
mango
Throughout history, the Southeast Asian royalty kept mango groves as symbols of status and offered the "perfect" mangoes as gifts of the highest order. In this, as well as other tropical cultures, mangoes are linked with male sexuality because they are considered to resemble the shape of a testicle (wishful thinking).
Plump, juicy, and close to bursting from its skin with sweet flesh, the mango at its ripest is almost irresistible, which is the best explanation I can fathom for the constant recommendation by poets and philosophers. An immeasurable number of romantic texts suggest the succulent fruit to be eaten naked with the sweet, vanilla-scented juice running where it may.
One Indian poet, perhaps the victim of a fermented mango juice OD, took his affair with the ripe fruit so far as to dub whole mangoes as "sealed jars of paradisiacal honey." India, it should be added, is the nation in which men are prescribed mango therapy to increase virility. It is unknown whether there is truth to its properties as a miracle cure or if mango therapy is simply a ploy to bump up mango consumption in the world's leading mango-producing nation.
licking mangoes
I love the ritual involved in serving mangoes. The ripe fruit is a food I like to eat when I'm in a languishing mood, taking the time to experience every individual second of the seduction. Removing the skin takes dexterity and care — it simply cannot be rushed. While slicing the meat away from the pit, I love the feel of sweet, orange mango juice running down my arm. And I never discard the pit. Sucking every last bit of sweetness from the tough core is the most rewarding part of this performance.
mint
Shakespeare immortalized mint's power to seduce by recommending this fresh, sweet herb as a natural Viagra for middle-aged men.
Mint is grown all over the world for culinary and medicinal use. Chefs in countries as diverse as France, Turkey, India, Portugal, Cuba and Thailand love to tease their dishes with its fresh kiss. As great chefs the world over know but few home cooks realize, mint comes in enough varieties to suit whatever your style of seduction. If you like a strong come-on try peppermint. Or try apple mint for something gentle and sweet.
Mint can multiply faster than a fertile jackrabbit. And it fills out gardens with fresh-scented foliage as proficiently as Marilyn Monroe could fill out a halter dress. Used in combination with other aphrodisiac ingredients, mint is the component noted for increasing appetites of all kinds. Just one quick nibble, and it will leave your breath as fresh as a bedtime brushing.
Cool, complex and every bit elegant, mint can be a perfect fit for cooks of every shape and size.
serving mint
I run out into my garden and pull a few mint sprigs to use in my cooking for those intensely hot interludes that need a cooling influence. Scientific studies demonstrate that women find mint-fragranced breath alluring, but in my own unscientific observations, I conclude that it goes both ways.
peach
Picked warm from the tree, this Southern belle's sun-kissed flesh is considered reminiscent of a woman's curves.
In A Midsummer Nights' Dream, the fairies passed around plump peach flesh as a symbol of temptation. (Remember that this is a story in which the fairies' romantic powers inspired interspecies pairing!)
The ancient Chinese believed the juicy flesh bursting from the peach's lightly fuzzed skin held magical properties. In Japan, blushing brides hold peach blossoms in celebration of fertility. Poet William Fahey compared the ripe, clefted, pink fruits to the plunge of cleavage so studied in the paintings of the French Impressionist, Renoir.
But the peach's finest attributes are actually in its kiss, so to speak. Packed with vitamins and primary nutrients, peaches offer potassium, phosphorus, iron, A and C — all key ingredients in performance enhancement.
petting peaches
A simple, ripe peach makes for a spectacularly multisensory eating experience. With skin so soft, it could be velvet and with a color like pale skin flushed from exertion, this soft, summer fruit is quite simply sexy. But to catch a peach at flavorful perfection takes patience and persistence. Seek out only those peaches with a pure, unmarked skin and flesh that gives ever-so-slightly when squeezed against the palm. This is essential.
And yes, I've been caught more than once in the produce aisle idly petting the peaches.
rosemary
An old-fashioned beauty, rosemary has been used throughout the ages to bring focus and clarity, for protection and in the cleansing of sacred spaces. Shakespeare's Ophelia used rosemary as a symbol of remembrance.
Rosemary is incorporated into medicines to reduce inflammation and stimulate digestion. But this sweet, herbal beauty is noted for stimulating much more than the digestive system. Its flavors and aromas are considered invigorating, energizing and inspiring.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Fork Me, Spoon Me by Amy Reiley, Kersti Frigell. Copyright © 2005 Amy Reiley. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
title,introduction,
the moods of food,
what's in a name,
kiss,
ingredients,
almond,
chile,
chocolate,
fig,
ginger,
honey,
mango,
mint,
peach,
rosemary,
saffron,
vanilla,
starters,
hot honey nuts,
figs in a blanket,
first time fluffernutters,
rosemary biscotti bites,
shrimp-stuffed spring rolls,
honey-almond home cured snapper,
zucchini stuffed with warm lobster,
peach lover's summer gazpacho,
honey carrot soup,
main courses,
love linguine with almond pesto,
saffron-basil matzo ball soup,
rosemary potato salad with fat sausages,
soft poached eggs on saffron dressed salad,
green tea poached salmon with sensual salsa,
vanilla-scented sea bass with a red hot rub,
lamb burgers with my sweet peach chutney,
moist mango meatloaf,
rosemary skewered chicken on a bed of roasted roots,
hard tacos with hot guacamole,
fire grilled chops with horseradish-mint sauce,
sauces and libations,
dipping green goddess,
chile rub,
mint butter,
sweet and hot apricot sauce,
not wholly mole,
hard sauce,
a word on wine,
a paragraph on port,
more potent elixirs,
magic mint syrup,
white peach Bellini,
saffron fleurtation,
a very sexy cocktail,
honey drop,
bloody maria,
ginger mojito,
dessert,
chocolate smothered brie,
creamy vanilla shakes with malted milk ball rims,
fresh figs rolled in brown sugar,
ready for anything ginger piecrust,
easy mango tart tatin,
Persian love cake,
cranberry almond tart,
make whoopee pie,
breakfast in bed triple gingerbread,
morning after fig scones with fresh cream,
venues,
kitchen: the new bedroom,
dining room,
roaring fire,
bath tub,
backyard,
into the woods,
rocking the boat,
bed,
glossary,
about the author,
What People are Saying About This
"This book cooks in the kitchen and in the bedroom."
—Creator of Learn About Wine and Fork Me reader, Los Angeles, CA
"BRAVO!"
—Gayot Publications
"Food and sex: two great tastes that taste great together. And Amy's book brings them together with both the facts and the fun."
—chef/owner Gottlieb's Restaurant and Dessert Bar, Savannah GA
“Amy Reiley is a passionate aphrodisiac advocate whose mission is to titillate through taste buds.” —Playboy
“If you're the type who prefers a perfectly crusted mac-and-cheese dish over a romp in the boudoir, Cordon-Bleu-trained author Amy Reiley's latest book, Fork Me, Spoon Me, is for you.” —Variety
"The book that takes the guesswork out of getting lucky... "
—author of The Roil System, host of Real TV on Spike and Fork Me user
"I just love what you are doing!"
—Le Cordon Bleu
"Get a newlywed couple a copy of Fork Me, Spoon Me instead of the Joy of Cooking or the Joy of Sex. It's a quicker read and a lot more fun."
—host of the Food Network's Calorie Commando and Weighing In and author of Calorie Countdown