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Why Is Good Food So Sexy?

This illustration features various foods on plates: avocados, shrimp, chocolate, oysters, asparagus, sliced potatoes and peppers. The word "Embodied" is prominently displayed in bold, dark red text at the top. The background has decorative floral patterns and candles.
Charnel Hunter

Food and sex have been deeply intertwined in our cultural imagination for millennia. Anita dives into the surprising history of why.

Food and love looms large in our cultural imagination. Were seduced by aphrodisiacs like figs, chocolate and oysters. A romantic dinner date takes a new relationship to the next level or rekindles the flame in an established one.

These associations between food and sex go back centuries, as host Anita Rao learns from historian . And as Rachel Hope explores in her book, , that history includes the tight relationship between sex work and early restaurants in Paris, the lives of queer women in the early 1900s and the heterosexual reclamation of food in the mid-20th century.

Anita and Rachel Hope explore three centuries of food and sex as well as Rachel Hopes personal ties to erotic and alimentary appetites to understand what makes that connection so strong.

Plus, Puerto Rican chef shares a Valentines Day recipe and his favorite sexy food. Happy cooking and happy eating!

Read the transcript

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Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, 耳科利利嫋's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the 耳科利利嫋 team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.
Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other 耳科利利嫋 shows including Tested and CREEP.