Читать книгу Eat Me: Love, Sex and the Art of Eating - Alexandra Antonioni - Страница 14

Down the slippery slidey slope we goWhat will we find there?God only knows!

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

LORENZ HART

So, how are the two of you doing?

You’ve been on two or three dates and, frankly, it’s been a long time since you liked anyone this much and every time you think of him you get butterflies and, well, he’s just so wonderful.

Congratulations! You’re infatuated.

Doesn’t it feel amazing? You are seeing glimpses of the possibility, of the chance of something really special and it’s hard to stop smiling.

Welcome then to the start of the really good bit of The Beginning. You can forget all about holding back now, it’s time to take a leap of faith and go for it in every way. The brakes are off.

The sight of her face … together with the maddening fragrance of food evoked an emotion of wild tenderness and hunger in him that was unutterable.

THOMAS WOLFE

At this stage food is a major player in the game that is Lust and Seduction, despite the nausea that comes with infatuation and ensures that eating is the last thing on our minds. Our appetites wane, we have the attention span of dyslexic ducks and all we can think about is ‘Them’.

Within the hormonally-charged delirium of this as yet unfulfilled lust, food is a very powerful weapon to wield in order to communicate our desire. Can you think of anything more sensual than preparing and sharing a meal with a person you’ve got the hots for? Especially food that must be eaten à deux, preferably with fingers – all that licking and sucking is surely the culinary equivalent of pornography.

At The Beginning food is something to be nibbled on, picked at, grazed upon and fed to each other. It is provocative and sensual (thus fuelling the already highly-charged sexual tension between fledgling lovers), an instrument of nourishment not only for our bodies, but also subconsciously for feeding our ardour. The morsels upon which we feast are a suggestion of our passion.

You look puzzled. Let me explain.

There is a theory – admittedly it’s my theory – that suggests how and what we choose to eat are personal barometers for how we make love. A neat, picky, fastidious eater, strictly meat-and-two-overcooked-veg-with-no-herbs-or-seasoning type is unlikely to make love in quite the same way as a finger-licking gourmand with a weakness for exotic spices, caviar and anything with butter and garlic.

Alongside food, candlelight, little black dresses, giggling, flowers, double-cuffed shirts, high heels, taxis, lashings of mascara, cocktails, cigars, champagne, soft music, perfume, fine wines, holding hands, aftershave and post-dinner liqueurs are all part of new lovers’ repast.