Can food get us in the mood for love?

By Maria Endah Hulupi

JAKARTA (JP): From ancient times there has been the belief that certain food can enliven us. Or, rather, to be precise, they can spice up our lives in the bedroom.

The list of aphrodisiac foods that can stimulate all your senses -- taste, sight, smell, touch and hearing -- is quite long, including types of vegetables, herbs, fruits and meats. It includes expensive delicacies like caviar and oysters, to spices popularly used in the kitchen, such as garlic, celery, coriander, clove, ginger, rosemary and oregano. Among them are also common flowering plants from the garden, like jasmine and verbena.

Garlic is supposed to have women swooning in love and make men virile. Jasmine's fresh scent is stimulating, and royal jelly contains rejuvenating properties. Ginger can excite the senses, cloves soothe fatigue and even humble vanilla can be stimulating. Celery is said to be good for the muscles, and chili activates blood circulation.

Local concepts of aphrodisiac foods include goat meat and animal parts, which devotees say can warm up even the hottest night.

But is it just the power of persuasion, or do they really have an effect on performance?

While dismissing there was any truth to the supposed aphrodisiac properties of animal parts such as rhinoceros horn, sex consultant Boyke Dian Nugraha explained that many foods believed to be aphrodisiacs contain vitamins and micronutrients that can boost stamina and health.

He said the center of sex-related impulse is in the brain and healthful food would naturally nourish body organs and help ensure that they function properly.

Boyke said that food that contains zinc, like oysters, can improve a man's sexual performance.

"Research has proven that the mineral improves sperm quality and increases the male hormone testosterone," he added.

Food may be a help but a romantic atmosphere will also improve matters.

"Other (external) elements also have a role in stimulating people," said Frederick Alloysius, general manager of Aphrodite restaurant at Klub Rasuna in South Jakarta.

Named in honor of the Greek goddess of love, the restaurant also tries to put customers in a blissful mood. There is the soothing sound of water dripping from a nearby mural water fountain, and the menu is filled with information on the different meals and their aphrodisiac properties.

"Usually, I use one or two ingredients with aphrodisiac properties in one meal," said the restaurant chef Daniel Gender, who explores the ancient myths to create aphrodisiac foods for modern people (one of his recipes is found in this week's Cook's Corner).

Gendre also said that he believed that healthful food is a naturally good aphrodisiac.

Among those who are skeptical about the aphrodisiac power of food is culinary expert William Wongso.

"I believe healthful food can contribute to good health, but I don't believe that its effects can be obtained by having just one aphrodisiac meal or by having it occasionally," he said recently at his by appointment only William Kafe Artistik restaurant on Jl. Panglima Polim Raya in South Jakarta.

For him, it is not how the food elements arouse a person that matters most but the way the elements are combined to create an exciting culinary experience. "I use ingredients with known aphrodisiac properties only for their flavor," he said.

William explained that various food elements -- selected ingredients, aroma, texture, the colors and the complexity of ingredients in culinary harmony -- are a feast for all the senses.

"Even the cracking sounds would be a delicious tune to hear," he said, adding that people will remember the culinary experience if they can enjoy the food.

Boyke said that other external factors like job satisfaction, spouse respect and a positive lifestyle are also elements that have an effect on a person's sex life.

Still don't believe it? Then take the word of former U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger, who said that politics is the ultimate aphrodisiac.