Comments on: The Naked Truth about Aphrodisiacs

By: Gary, LC Food History Editor

Gary, LC Food History Editor — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:30:11 +0000

Everything (responsible) I’ve read on the subject points to aphrodisiacs’ success being of the placebo-effect sort. Of course, if one is looking to debunk an idea, that’s the sort of result that is to be expected.

Besides, if the placebo is working, what good is the truth?

By: Amy Reiley

Amy Reiley — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:01:50 +0000

Gary, I’m wondering if you have come across any research that points to the success of aphrodisiacs as residing in our “sweet little imaginations?” We all assume that it is so but I’ve been looking for proven evidence for a few years. If you’ve found anything that points to this conclusion, I would appreciate it if you could send the information my way.

By: Holly

Holly — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:16:27 +0000

And then there's salep ( variously spelled as sahlep, salub, saloop, etc) the winter drink originally made with the tubers of dried terrestrial Turkish orchids... It's got quite a history, one I explored more extensively in a paper given years ago at the Oxford Symposium; but for Valentine's Day this year, I did something a little different, supplying an eco-friendly recipe. I do think that reputation is perpetuated by relative scarcity or exoticism. As with rhinoceros horn, orchid tubers are suggestive by form (back to the Doctrine of Signatures); however, their real "power" comes from being costly. You can read more about Orchis mascula (and see illustrations of both the beverage and the plant) here.

By: Tom Grasso

Tom Grasso — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:28:43 +0000

Gary has an excellent pancake recipe in the Dec.'09 issue of Roll Magazine and perhaps the definitive work on Parmigiano Reggiano in the Jan. '10 issue