Aphrodisiacs fairytale in facts of life

THE course of true love, alas, seldom runs smoothly and much human ingenuity over the centuries has gone into attempts to make the path a little less rough.

One of the most popular devices and one which, like most of the others, almost certainly does not work, is the aphrodisiac.

The poets of the ancient Mediterranean civilisations and the bards of medieval and renaissance Europe all allude to love potions, a sort of amorous mickey finn to be surreptitiously added to the object of desire's drink.

These seem to have been successful in fiction, but we can only guess at whether they ever were in fact.

By the 18th century, notably in France, attention had turned to less mystical means of achieving the same objective. The idea had evolved that certain foods could be sexually stimulating.

Foods traditionally credited with aphrodisiac properties in various quarters include game dishes, sweetbreads, kidneys, caviar, lobster, crayfish, truffles, shark's fins and morel mushrooms.

Certain condiments are also sometimes considered to arouse an amorous propensity. These include pimento, cinnamon, pepper, saffron, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.