FOOD OF LOVE: Do certain foods act as aphrodisiacs, tickling nerve endings and rousing excitement through the tongue? You don’t need to convince a true foodie that food can get you hot. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner you might want to add a few things to the grocery list. What to buy? Guys might want to slip some caviar into their diet. It’s high in zinc which stimulates production of testosterone. Ginseng is said to increase desire for physical contact, and radishes were considered an aphrodisiac by ancient Egyptians, perhaps due to a spicy taste that stimulates the tongue. Oysters have long been considered aphrodisiacs, though no one really knows why. One theory is that since oysters are known to switch from male to female and back again, those who eat them can experience both the feminine and masculine sides of love. A more plausible theory is that the critters are high in the previously mentioned zinc. Also considered a sexual stimulant… truffles, those funky, expensive fungi rooted from forest floors by pigs. Some think it’s the musky smell, others says it’s simply because they’re rare. And as long as your indulging in the rare and expensive, wash it all down with some champagne, the drink of love.

VALENTINE WHAMMY: In the restaurant business, Valentine’s Day is like having a Saturday night in the middle of the week. Except for this year. Since Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday, restaurants won’t get much of an added boost from the holiday. Add to that consumers’ reluctance to spend, and the fact that the first four weekends in January had cold, rain or snow, and 2009 has not been a stellar year so far. You can show some love to your favorite restaurateur by celebrating Valentine’s Day on any day but February 14. Take your sweetie to dinner on Tuesday night, Wednesday, any day but Valentine’s Day. Heck, if whoever’s in charge of the calendar can move presidents’ birthdays around so they always fall on a Monday, why not move Valentine’s Day to any day but Saturday?

SWEET SPECIALS: Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Jonathan’s Ristorante (15 Wall Street, Huntington, 631-549-0055) with a $45 three-course prix fixe dinner starting at 5 p.m. The $45 per person (plus tax and tip) menu is as follows: First Course: Shrimp Bisque with crabmeat and chive oil; Arugula, vine tomato, Parmigiano or goat cheese; Mozzarella di bufala caprese; Speck, grana, artichokes, heart of palm, baby arugula; Calamari fritti with spicy mayo and tomato sauce; Sautéed baby artichokes with basil oil (+ $2); Tuna Tartare, avocado salad, wasabi drizzle (+ $3); Spinach and ricotta gnudi, oyster mushroom and Parmigiano sauce; Napoleon of crab meat and oven roasted tomatoes (+ $3). Second Course: Risotto with sea scallops, red wine, asiago and radicchio; Blackened yellowfin tuna, polenta cake and avocado and tomato salad (+ $4); Organic Bell & Evans chicken with Tuscan herbs and own juices, mashed potatoes, French string beans; Alaskan king salmon, favetta, escarole and lemon citronette; Duck breast with black currant sauce, faro salad and grilled asparagus; Fettuccine with venison and shiitake ragu; Wild striped bass, celery root, baby spinach, truffle vinaigrette (+ $4); Veal Scaloppine, lemon sauce, mashed potato and white asparagus; Filet mignon, mustard and green peppercorn cream sauce with potato/leek gratin and spinach (+$7). Choice of homemade dessert. Reserve early… it is Valentine’s Day.

COOKIES AT WAR: It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and while you’re enjoying those Thin Mints, Samoas and Do-Si-Dos, the men and women of our armed forces could be too. Thanks to the Girl Scouts program, Operation Cookie, more than two million Girl Scout Cookies have been sent to U.S. troops overseas. Since 2003, Girl Scouts Suffolk County has provided the opportunity to purchase Girl Scout cookies that GSSC sends in their name and with their messages to members of the U.S. military. Cookies have been sent to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and to military hospitals at home. Cookies were also sent over with Huntington’s own "Fighting 69th" Infantry National Guard Unit. The county’s number one cookie sponsor? The folks at Greenlawn’s BAE Systems, who last year sent 120 cases of cookies. Learn more about Operation Cookie at www.gssc.us.

PRACTICE SAFE PB: Speaking of Girl Scout Cookies, the folks at Girl Scouts Suffolk County want people to know that the peanut butter in those Do-Si-Dos and Tagalongs is safe. A letter on the Girl Scouts’ website says that the peanut butter supplier on which FDA is focusing its investigation concerning a Salmonella outbreak does not supply peanut butter to the Girl Scout Cookies manufacturer.

Send news of the food
world to Foodie@LongIslandernews.com

Main Menu