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Month: January 2017

Chocolate Candy: An Aphrodisiac – Is It or Isn’t It?

Posted on by Alvino Sandoval

Is chocolate an aphrodisiac? The answer is yes. And no. And like so much about sex and lust, somewhere in-between. Here’s what happened: when 16th century explorers, such as Hernán Cortés, landed in Mesoamerica they come across a mesmerizing sight: the great Aztec leader Montezuma, bedecked in jewels and feathers, and attended to by 200 wives. And in his regal hand he cupped a golden chalice filled with the cacao drink.

Montezuma inspired Cortés, largely to overthrow him, which he did with a devastating, bloody blow. The cacao also inspired the creative talents of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who traveled with Cortés and recorded their journey many years later in The True History of the Conquest of New Spain. His accuracy is unknown, but the spirit of his account is impressive. It was from Castillo that we learned the improbable truth that each day Montezuma drank fifty servings of chocolate from a golden chalice, which gave him the virility to satisfy the sexual desires of his many wives.

Accuracy aside, the cacao became known as a prized food fueling and enabling sexual desire first in Spain, where the Spanish kept the cacao a much coveted secret, and later Europe where the cacao traveled from one royal marriage to another and, eventually, North America and the world.

But is Chocolate an Aphrodisiac?

Is chocolate an aphrodisiac? Here’s the “no.” Chocolate does contain phenyl ethylamine, which can activate a feeling of giddy warmth, and it does contain serotonin, which can excite the senses. Unfortunately, neither chemical is present in significant amounts.

No worries. Here’s the “yes”: Sex is in the mind, as everyone from the makers of Victoria’s Secret to men’s magazines are fully aware. And chocolate is one of the most powerful mind-aphrodisiacs in history. Truffles, starting in the turn-of-the-century, for example, were the gift of courtship, i.e. sexual intrigue. Chocolatiers created voluptuous chocolates whose rose patterns were so much like the vulva even a gynecologist would be fooled. Today, chocolate as a gift of love and lust has no rivals.

All this, thanks to Montezuma. In spite of his fall at the feet of the conquering Spanish, Montezuma, in spirit and in legend, lives on.

What to Taste:

 

Nutmeg: Sure, A Flavoring in Candy but an Aphrodisiac and So Much More

Posted on by Alvino Sandoval

If you’re searching for an effective yet tasty aphrodisiac look no further than your local grocery store. The solution comes bundled up in the pit of a more-or-less remarkable spice humbly referred to as “nutmeg.” For thousands of years, the nutmeg has been used to inspire love and lust – even its name derives from the Arabic word “mesk,” or “musky,” as in fragrance.  Today, Americans enjoy nutmeg to limited degrees – in hot cider and apple pie, for example, unaware of the sultry – and dangerous – spice that it is.

But First… Nutmeg: The Early Years

Spice Island Map of 1576?: Porcacchi, Thomaso, ca. 1530–1585? “Isole Molucche.” Copperplate map, 10 × 14 cm. on sheet 30 x 20 cm. Page 189 from Porcacchi’s L’isole piu famose del mondo (Venice, 1576?). [Historic Maps Collection]
Even the early years of the nutmeg is intriguing. It originated in the Indonesian Spice Islands and appeared in the alcoholic beverages of the ancient Romans and Greeks, the cuisine of Byzantine traders, and by the 9th century, sprinkled on the pease pudding of monks in Constantinople. In the 12th century, nutmeg made a much admired presence in the cuisine of Europeans and in medieval and renaissance banquets.

All that is culinary light-heartedness leading to events that unfurled around 1512. In that year, the Portuguese naval commander Albuquerque sent a fleet to find the mythical Spice Islands. They found it all right and returned with nutmeg, among other spices, and a fire in their loins that ignited a bloody round of history that lasted for centuries. In it, the Portuguese were ousted by the Dutch, who founded the Dutch East India Company, who were ousted by the British over 100 years later.

As for the local inhabitants: You can imagine the carnage the ensued from the moment the first European boot made an imprint on the sandy Island soil. The natives were enslaved and abused in a style more or less typical of European conquers for centuries. Their land was looted and destroyed – the Dutch, for example, destroyed the nutmeg trees on every island except the ones they controlled. Eventually, the nutmeg’s roots took hold in Granada, where it still grows today.

1669: Montanus, Arnoldus, 1625?-1683. “Ware affbeeldinge wegens het casteel ende stadt Batavia gelegen opt groot eylant Java anno 1669.” Copperplate map, with added color, 27 x 36 cm. Probably issued in Montanus’s Gedenkwaerdige gesantschappen der Oost-Indische maatschappy in ’t Vereenigde Nederland . . . (Amsterdam, 1669) [Historic Maps Collection].HOME of the Dutch East India Company with its magnificent homes
1521: Pigafetta, Antonio, ca. 1480/91–ca. 1534. “Figure of the Five Islands Where Grow the Cloves, and of Their Tree.” From volume 2 of Magellan’s Voyage: A Narrative Account of the First Circumnavigation. Translated and edited by R. A. Skelton (New Haven, Conn., 1969). (IMAGE OF CLOVE TREE)

So why all the fuss?

Most food historians would say the nutmeg’s popularity was because of its flavor. Yes…but… a small amount of nutmeg is, indeed, a tasty addition to food. But in larger doses, the nutmeg acts as an aphrodisiac thanks to a “myristicin” and other compounds in the mescalin family. No doubt those nutmeg-rich banquets had many a happy and lustful ending.

In even greater quantities the nutmeg causes hallucinations. In fact, the nutmeg was called the “mystic’s spice” because mystics used it to induce visions that your average nutmeg fan could hardly imagine. These mystics also knew when to stop: while nutmeg may cure mild cases of diarrhea and flatulence, too much would kill them.

Sources:

Medicinal Plants; being descriptions with original figures of the principal plants employed in medicine and an account of the characters, properties, and uses of their parts and products of medicinal value. Bentley, Robert and Henry Trimen. London, Churchill, 1880. (WZ 295 B556m 1880)

UCLA Medical Library.  http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice

Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth F. Kiple & Kriemild Conee Ornelas [Cambridge University Press: Cambridge] 2000, Volume Two (p. 1823)

Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson, 2nd edition edited by Tom Jaine [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2006 (p. 546)

Maps: Princeton University https://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/spice-islands/spice-islands-maps.html