Spice Up Your Night

Today is the first anniversary with your girlfriend or your first meet-up with a London escort you met online and you're planning to celebrate it in the comfort of your own home. You thought of watching a horror flick while eating buttered popcorn, but you realised you forgot to rent a movie. Having Chinese takeaway is impossible, your girl doesn’t like the idea of eating dumplings and noodles on your special day. You were running out of ideas, until you thought of preparing dinner by yourself. Now the question is… how will you make your anniversary supper exquisite, exotic and exciting? Spice up your night and set the steamy mood with the gifts from the Greek goddess of love-the aphrodisiacs.

From the name of the Greek goddess of love, beauty and sexuality, Aphrodite, an aphrodisiac is anything edible that is thought to increase one’s sexual desire. Even in ancient times, people looked for ways on how to make sex a pleasurable, memorable experience. People had used rituals, behaviours, even food and drinks. These enticing edibles are now what we call aphrodisiacs. People thought that if you eat these foods, it would result in an enhanced libido, but some scientists beg to disagree, for they believe the result was brought about by the thought that it has an effect, but in reality it has no effect at all (this experience is called the placebo effect).

Different countries believe in different aphrodisiacs. Some use fruits, some use vegetables. Some eat exotic animals, not only their meat, but also their blood. Gross, you think? Here are some of the well-known, sought-after aphrodisiacs around the world.

In Asia, specifically Thailand, snake is regarded as a high libido-inducing aphrodisiac. If you want a sexy time with your girlfriend later, try sipping a glass of snake blood. Thais believe that a shot of snake blood and a plate of freshly cooked snake meat can energise a man’s own snake (if you get what we mean). Same goes for the Chinese and other Southeast Asian countries. Sociologists believe that the phallic-like shape of the snake made people think of it as an aphrodisiac.

Male Moroccans ingest this small-but-terrible green beetle called the Spanish fly. Obtained from this insect is the substance called Cantharides. After ingestion, the cantharides travel through the bloodstream and are excreted through urine. This substance irritates the urethral passages, causing inflammation of genitals, later leading to a prolonged erection (priapism). Cantharides are considered toxic in big amounts. Their use is now banned in most countries.

The slick oyster is famous not only for its delicate taste but also for its “heating” properties. A study was conducted on these sea creatures if they were really effective in helping a man free his willy! As it turned out, an amino acid found from them helped boost the production of sex hormones… in rats. Well, the success found in rats may not be as successful in humans. It is thought that the oysters symbolise or resemble the shape of the vagina, and you devour them by licking, slurping, sipping… you get the idea.

Lastly, in some parts of Asia, eating duck embryos is a good way to invigorate one’s manhood. Called “balut”, the duck egg is boiled, may be sprinkled with sea salt or vinegar to taste, and eaten whole. It is a common street food and delicacy.

There’s no “standing” evidence that aphrodisiacs really work. But trying it for the sake of fun and excitement won’t hurt. Any edible thing can be considered an aphrodisiac, as long as you believe that it will strengthen your trusty sword.