Aphrodisiacs are arguably important to everybody, whether you're hoping to inject some passion back into a steady relationship or are hoping to give a new love affair the best possible chance.

People have been experimenting with aphrodisiac food as a route to their true love's heart for centuries. Just about every culture has its own menu of delicacies designed to induce passion and fertility.

Natural Aphrodisiac Food
As a general rule of thumb when it comes to aphrodisiac cuisine, the chances are if it looks and tastes unusual someone will have tried it out on their partner. Aphrodisiac delicacies include rhino horn, oysters and caviar.

Vital Ingredients For Aphrodisiac Cuisine
Throughout the ages, the genitals of certain animals have been prized for their magically potent effects. There is the fable of the soup suggested by Hippocrates made from the testicles of a stag whilst the genitals of a tiger have long been considered potent by the Chinese.

Next is the class of foods which mirror the sexual organs - oysters, asparagus dipped in Hollandaise sauce, scallops and king prawns.

Then there is a list of ingredients, which are considered to be potent aphrodisiacs for no apparent reason - fennel, pine nuts, garlic, ginger, saffron, radish, vanilla, quince, and chocolate are just a few of the potently enticing ingredients.

Aprodisiac Dishes
Once you've picked out the key ingredients to seduction, minimise preparation time, and keep it simple. The meal should be satisfying without being heavy and looks are important so it should be attractively presented.

Menu For Seduction
Mousses are great way to seduce a loved one, and the trick is to make them ahead of time and then appear to prepare everything before his or her eyes in seconds. Another trick is to ensure that at least one course is eaten with the fingers - for example, Thai king prawns to start and chocolate-dipped fruit as dessert. Seafood, and exotic fruits accompanied by champagne all help to make an evening dinner a deux eaten by candlelight very romantic.

Aphrodisiac food can be sampled at most London restaurants and is guaranteed to make choosing your food even more enjoyable.

Carlina Macdonald