On aphrodisiacs and sex and food

I hate the term "sexpert" or "sex expert" as applied to me, cause I'm SO not. I'm just a literary exhibitionist and occasionally kinky but generally boring girl who likes to write dirty stories and pick people's brains about sex. But I guess that's too long to squeeze into anywhere but a blog!


Photo by Paul Sarkis

See also: my "Eating for Arousal" column from 2005 (there have since been a whole bunch more books published on the topic of aphrodisiacs, cooking for your lover, etc. My favorite title? Cooking to Hook Up.) I'm probably much more about using food as a suggestive tool than bringing it into the bedroom or wherever the sex is happening, however. I do like offering people food, whether I've made it or not, and by that I mean holding a cupcake up for someone to sink their teeth into. That's hot.



But anyway, a reporter from the Columbia Spectator contacted me about aphrodisiacs and the article, "Eating Up to Get Down" is now online.

Today, according to sex expert and erotica writer Rachel Kramer Bussel, sexually suggestive foods still turn people on. In an e-mail, she mentioned that "foods that remind you of sex because of the way you eat them, like a popsicle, could be sexy if it reminds someone of giving (or receiving) a blowjob." She continued to share an anecdote of such an example: "One lover told me he loved eating sashimi and rare roast beef and foods like that because it reminded him of going down on a woman."...

Bussel, too, thinks that the ritual of serving food can be exciting. "Some foods are sexy to serve to other people, and sometimes I think it doesn't matter what the food is, per se, but the context. I find sharing food and offering someone a bite of my meal or dessert from my fork to be particularly hot," she said.

Experts emphasize that there is no universal aphrodisiac. "I think any food could potentially be an aphrodisiac," Bussel said. "It really depends on what the person likes to eat and what sensations they like. ... You wouldn't want to use a food that the other person hates."...

But if you're a hungry sinner, and you feel that you didn't eat enough at dinner, you can always bring food with you into the bedroom. "I think food can be used sparingly during sex, like smearing whipped cream or chocolate sauce across someone's chest," said Bussel. "But you should be careful about food actually touching the genitals. Foods like zucchinis can be used as dildos, but my personal preference would be to use an actual dildo." Because, as sexually powerful as some foods can be, they just can't do it all.