Libido can fall for many reasons. If sex has gone off your radar because of fatigue, stress, poor health or relationship issues, then it is suggested that the process of preparing this fruit salad stimulates thoughts of sexual desire by encouraging you to prioritise your sexual health and indulge your thoughts.
- DF Dairy free
- GF Gluten free
- VG Vegetarian
- S Sweet
- Prep time 15 mins
- Serves 2-4
- Difficulty easy
Method
For the syrup
- In a saucepan, dissolve honey in water over low heat.
- Bring to the boil, add vanilla seeds and simmer gently while stirring to mix in the vanilla seeds.
- Allow to cool, then add rose water.
For the fruit salad
- Soak the dried pears in the syrup for 10-15 minutes, or while preparing the fruit.
- In a bowl, gently combine strawberries and figs, or arrange on a platter.
- Cut pomegranate in half and, using a spoon, repeatedly beat on the back of the cut half to push out the seeds.
- Then turn the pomegranate half inside out, remove the white membrane part and use a spoon to gently scrape out any remaining seeds. Sprinkle over the other fruit.
- You can collect any juice that has escaped from the pomegranate and add to the syrup. This will make the syrup a little less sweet.
- Remove pears from syrup and add to fruit salad. Drizzle syrup over fruit salad.
Optional
Top with a whole peeled banana.
Nutritional information
By Jean Hailes naturopath and herbalist Sandra Villella
What is an aphrodisiac?
An aphrodisiac is a food, drink, or other thing that stimulates sexual desire. Arguably, the best aphrodisiacs are those that work on the mind and the body, addressing both the physical and emotional needs.
Rather than directly stimulate a sexual urge, these foods have aphrodisiacal qualities from either the appearance of the food (symbolic representation), the texture, how the food makes you feel, and/or the physical health benefits the food has on your body.
What's so saucy about this fruit salad?
Strawberries are hailed as one of the most erotic fruits, and are thought to symbolise the nipple. The pomegranate has a wonderful symbolic representation of the ovary full of eggs, representing fertility. Pomegranates contain polyphenols with antioxidant effects, reputed to have a more powerful antioxidant potential than red wine and green tea.
Figs have a voluptuous shape and a sensual texture; some people argue that the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden was actually a fig, not an apple. An open fresh fig also emulates female sex organs, and its many seeds also symbolise fertility. The dried pears are included for the obvious visual similarity to the female genitalia, and adds a contrast in texture to the fresh fruit.
There are also suggested aphrodisiac aromas such as vanilla and rose, which is why they are included in the syrup.
There are theories about which ingredients in chocolate contribute to its aphrodisiac qualities. It is, however, agreed that it is a popular aphrodisiac. Have you ever wondered why a honeymoon is called that? It refers to the new marriage's sweetness as well as the European custom of giving newlyweds enough mead (alcoholic liquor made by fermenting honey and water) to last a month. Honey is also a reputed aphrodisiac, so is included here to sweeten all these pleasurable foods.
