Often underestimated, olfactory sense is actually what matters when it comes to one’s amorous pursuit in finding the perfect aphrodisiac.
The connection between food and sex has always been constant throughout the human history. Aphrodisiacs – any substance and activity that arouse sexual desire – can be found in all cultures. The name is befittingly attributed to the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, who was born out of the foam produced by Uranus’ castrated genitals when they fell into the sea. Thus, the goddess has inspired humans to find joy in amorous pleasures and the many ways to enhance it in their lives.
Kamasutra, India’s legendary manual of love, dedicated one whole chapter on aphrodisiacs, ingredients and devices to enhance one’s sex life. There are various fascinating recipes to increase sexual vigour such as “drinking milk mixed with sugar, and having the testicle of a ram or goat boiled in it”. Milk, garlic, saffron, fenugreek, gokshura, shatavari, and ashwagandha were mentioned for their invigorating properties.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) puts thousands of years of trust in ginseng, horny goat weeds, bird’s nest, sea cucumber, and cordyceps. Known for its vitality improving and erectile dysfunction healing properties, those ingredients are still widely consumed until today.
Often, the power of suggestion is strong enough to create a placebo effect on a specific ingredient deemed as an aphrodisiac. By now, we know that food alone does not have the power to stimulate sexual desire. It is the act of eating and whom we share the food with that unleash the carnal thoughts. Oyster is just food but when one adds imagination into it – preferably in the form of freshly-shucked oysters paired with a bottle of chilled Champagne, eaten in a hidden nook of a restaurant with a lover – it becomes an aphrodisiac, a promise of what’s to come.
Flavour is made of three things: smell, taste and texture. Throughout the history, one’s sense of smell has often been underestimated by science because of its association with animality. After all, as Homo sapiens, humans are supposed to be better than animals whose sole drive in life is to hunt, mate and survive. But, we are also creatures of our senses. “To smell someone is, in a sense, to really feel one’s animality, since to smell another’s flesh is to uncover their physiological secrets,” writes David Le Breton, professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Strasbourg in Nez édition’s collective work, Sentir, ressentir: Parfums, odeurs et émotions.
The sense of smell has a strong link to memory and emotion than the other senses. It is very human to be attracted by a specific scent, be it the earthy aroma from shaved black truffle or a whiff of jasmine perfume that reminds one of a past lover. Each of us is uniquely attracted and turned on by different things but there are several scents that have been known to spark arousal.
According to Nora Gasparini, the founder of L’Atelier Parfums et Créations in Bali, humans are erotically drawn to animalic, hedonic and indolic scents. “In the perfume world, there is the animalic scent which has an erogenic quality from the animal’s pheromone. We used to harvest these scents from animals, such as musk from Tonkin musk deer, castoreum from beavers, ambergris from sperm whale. We are also attracted to specific scents from our episodic memory, usually one that we associate with happy recollections or one that makes us feel good about ourselves. This we refer to as hedonic and it can be anything from vanilla to bubble gum. Lastly, we are attracted to indolic scent, the smell of sex itself. Jasmine, tuberose and cumin are indolic,” explains the perfume creator.
A scent can be a powerful aphrodisiac, especially upon the female brain. Women’s noses play a central role in determining their attraction to a man, encouraging one to make an introduction or to flirt. Gasparini shares a few tips to initiate a seduction by scents. “The first rule of seduction is to feel good about ourselves. That will make us open to be seduced or to seduce. Wear a perfume that makes you feel confident. Indolic scents such as ylang-ylang, tuberose, cypriol or oud may take the seduction further, especially when warm spicy food, which increases blood flow, are served.”
