Rise and Walk Soup

  Also called Lazarus’s Lifeblood, this is the consommé we use in Chile to cure colds. To even better purpose, it animates languishing lovers.

  Ingredients

  4 cups Beef Stock, carefully strained

  1/2 teaspoon curry powder

  Tabasco to taste

  1 liqueur glass sherry

  1 pinch cumin

  Salt and pepper to taste

  4 tablespoons cooked rice

  1 tablespoon raisins, previously soaked in some of the Beef Stock

  Preparation

  Season the stock with the curry, which has been dissolved in a small amount of hot water. Add the Tabasco, sherry, and cumin, check the seasoning, and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot accompanied by the rice and raisins.

  New Life

  Let’s say that your quarrel wasn’t the worst you ever had, that it doesn’t quite call for my infallible Reconciliation Soup, and that a more modest offering will serve to improve spirits. That’s the time for this recipe. It also works well as a light preamble for assertive main courses and can be prepared in less than ten minutes!

  Ingredients

  2 cups Vegetable Stock or canned or concentrate in cubes

  1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon

  1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (about 5 large ones)

  2 tablespoons olive oil

  1/4 cup Marsala wine

  1 egg yolk

  2 tablespoons cream

  Salt and pepper to taste

  Preparation

  Heat the stock with the tarragon. In a skillet, sauté the mushrooms in the oil for 2 minutes. Add the wine, cover the skillet, and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Pour into the hot stock. Remove from the heat and let cool for 1 minute while you beat the egg yolk with the cream. Add to the consommé. Check the seasoning, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

  Consommé El Dorado

  Not the same as onion soup. This is a delicate preamble to more daring caresses.

  Ingredients

  2 medium onions, minced

  1 clove garlic

  1 clove

  Salt and black pepper to taste

  1 splash vegetable oil

  4 cups hot Beef Stock

  4 tablespoons port

  Several drops Worcestershire sauce

  2 tablespoons grated Gruyère cheese

  Preparation

  Sauté the onions, garlic, clove, salt, and pepper in the oil until the onion is golden. Add the stock, port, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the garlic and clove, and blend the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Just before serving, add the Gruyère.

  Consommé Neapolitan

  Ingredients

  4 cups Chicken Stock

  1/2 cup angel hair pasta

  1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

  2 beaten egg yolks, mixed slowly with stock

  2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley

  4 tablespoons grated Parmesan

  Preparation

  Heat the stock until it boils. Add the angel hair like rain and lower the heat. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the gelatin dissolved in 1/2 cup of the stock and passed through a sieve and, finally, the beaten yolks, but do not allow the consommé to boil. Cook for 3 minutes on the lowest heat. Just before serving, add the parsley and Parmesan to each bowl.

  Sherry Consommé

  Very mild, this is a discreet soup to go with strong main courses, such as game birds, rabbit, or red meat. Always serve in Chinese rice bowls with porcelain spoons. If my partner needs an extra boost, I break a raw egg into the soup before serving it to him.

  Ingredients

  1 tablespoon raisins

  1/3 cup sherry

  3 cups Beef Stock

  1/2 teaspoon curry powder

  4 tablespoons cooked rice

  Tabasco to taste

  Preparation

  Soak the raisins in the sherry for 30 minutes. Simmer the stock with the curry for 3 minutes and add all the remaining ingredients.

  Spirit Lifter

  This soup may be consolation for the pain of burials and divorces, which explains the name. Liver is aphrodisiac, but it also has a strong flavor that not everyone can accept. Chicken liver is mildest.

  Ingredients

  4 cups Chicken Stock

  1 cup grated potato

  1/2 cup chopped chicken livers sautéed in butter

  3 tablespoons Marsala or sherry wine

  1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

  1 pinch powdered tarragon

  Salt to taste

  Preparation

  Cook the stock and grated potato for 5 minutes. Add the chicken livers, wine, Worcestershire sauce, and tarragon. Check the seasoning and add salt to taste. Cook 5 minutes more.

  Royal Consommé

  Quick and easy. Ideal for lovers in a hurry.

  Ingredients

  4 cups Chicken Stock

  2 egg yolks

  2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds

  1 tablespoon butter

  2 teaspoons cognac or brandy (optional)

  2 tablespoons cream (optional)

  Preparation

  Beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of stock. Heat the remaining stock, then remove from the heat. Add the yolks, stir well, and cook on low heat for 3 minutes; do not allow the eggs to curdle. Add the remaining ingredients except the cream. Pour the soup into bowls and place a tablespoon of cream in each one without stirring.

  Hot Soups

  If you have homemade soups in your refrigerator, it’s very easy to improvise an aphrodisiac dinner: The main course will be a marvelous soup accompanied by a salad, good bread, cheese, wine, and, as dessert, a chocolate bonbon or a sorbet, two backup items it is wise to keep in your kitchen for emergencies. Afterward, with a light meal on your stomach and in a good mood, you can happily make love for the rest of the night. This is a lesson I learned when I prepared a complete aphrodisiac menu, and by the time I had cooked all afternoon, served the dinner, and cleaned up the kitchen, I was so exhausted that if Gregory Peck had appeared in the full splendor of his youth, I would have been satisfied with a chaste back rub. On that occasion I had fixed a wild mushroom soup (the one I call, for obvious reasons, Reconciliation Soup) that left my companion in the state of supreme euphoria normally produced by the best Chinese herbs from my Japanese acupuncturist friend. The mushroom soup was followed by salmon with capers in a white wine sauce, accompanied by stuffed artichokes and asparagus tips, Caesar salad, and chocolate mousse. I fell fast asleep by the dishwasher, clutching a sponge, while the man of the moment, who was not, unfortunately, Gregory Peck, awaited in the bedroom, working a crossword puzzle. I no longer make this error. Now I devote myself to the soup the day before—sitting a day makes it even tastier—and have energy enough to make both salad and love.

  Cream of Artichoke

  Simple and savory, the only nuisance is scraping the leaves, but you will want to get the hang of that because artichokes stuffed with the pulp from the leaves are very erotic.

  Ingredients

  2 artichokes

  1 lemon slice

  2 cups Chicken Stock

  8 ounces plain yogurt

  Salt and pepper to taste

  2 teaspoons butter

  Preparation

  Cook the artichokes in water with lemon until they are soft and the leaves detach easily, 30 to 40 minutes. When cool, remove the pulp from the leaves with a spoon. Scrape the choke from the heart and place the pulp and heart in a food processor with the stock and yogurt. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat and serve with a curl of butter in each bowl.

  Clam Chowder

  May be made with mussels or other shellfish, or with a combination of fresh or frozen seafood. The effect is remarkable. No one will believe you prepared it in less than ten minutes.

  Ingredients

  1 clove garlic, crushed

  1 teaspoon butter

  2 cups Fish Stock

  2 slices white bread, crusts removed

  1 cup shellfish, either fresh or frozen, cooked without shells

  1/2 cup white wine

  2 tablespoons mixed chopped parsley and cilantro

  Salt and paprika to taste

  Preparation

  Sauté the garlic in the butter. Add the fish stock. Soak the bread in the stock, warm, and stir strongly until the bread disintegrates. Add the shellfish, wine, parsley, and cilantro. Heat for 5 minutes. Check the seasoning, add salt and paprika to taste, and serve while hot.

  Alicante Cream

  Super aphrodisiac!

  Ingredients

  1 medium leek (white portion only)

  1/2 small onion

  1 tablespoon olive oil

  1 tablespoon flour

  2 cups Fish Stock

  1/2 cup peeled and cooked shrimp

  6 cooked oysters

  Paprika, rosemary, pepper, and other herbs to taste

  2 tablespoons cream

  Preparation

  Cut the leek and onion into thin slices and sauté in the oil until golden. Add the flour and cook until it, too, is golden. Slowly pour in the stock while stirring to prevent lumps from forming. Cook until you have a soup of clear consistency, about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp, oysters, and seasonings. Simmer another 5 minutes. Add the cream before serving, but do not boil.

  Onion Soup

  This is the simple version of the celebrated French soup. It goes into the oven in heatproof pottery bowls, with bread and cheese. It can be a main course on its own.

  Ingredients

  2 medium onions, julienned

  1 splash vegetable oil

  3 cups Beef Stock

  1 pinch ground cloves

  1 pinch sugar

  A few drops Worcestershire sauce

  2 slices toasted white bread

  4 tablespoons grated Gruyère or Parmesan cheese

  Preparation

  Sauté the onions in the oil until golden; be careful not to burn them because that will make them bitter. Add all the other ingredients except cheese and bread. Cook for 10 minutes. Place the toast in bowls, pour in the boiling soup, sprinkle with cheese, and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

  It’s-A-Feast! Soup

  Garbanzos are considered aphrodisiac in nearly all cultures. In my childhood in Chile they were a very modest dish that never appeared on an elegant table or restaurant menu. Well prepared, they’re delicious; the hassle is skinning them. So if you plan to take the trouble, double the recipe and keep half of it frozen. This soup can also be made with beans or lentils, which even though not aphrodisiac are very tasty.

  Ingredients

  1 cup garbanzos

  2 tablespoons minced onion

  1 clove garlic, crushed

  1 small carrot, grated

  1 tablespoon olive oil

  2 cups Chicken Stock, or Beef Stock

  1/2 cup milk

  1/4 cup white wine

  Salt, pepper, and cumin to taste

  2 tablespoons minced ham

  Preparation

  Soak the garbanzos overnight in water and then cook until softened, about 1 hour. (In an emergency, you can used canned garbanzos.) Sauté the onion, garlic, and carrot in the oil for 2 minutes. Add the skinned garbanzos. (No getting around it, you have to remove the skins. But if you soak them a while, they will slip off easily.) Add all the other ingredients except the ham and cook for 5 minutes. Put the mixture in a food processor and blend until creamy. Serve hot. Garnish with the ham. (If you have no problem with calories, replace the ham with bits of sausage or crisp bacon.)

  Quick Crab Bisque

  This may also be made with lobster or other crustaceans, fresh or frozen.

  Ingredients

  1 slice white bread, crusts removed

  1/3 cup milk

  1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped

  1 pimiento, chopped

  1 tablespoon oil

  Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

  1 pinch thyme

  1/2 cup cooked crabmeat or other crustacean

  2 cups Fish Stock

  2 tablespoons cream

  Preparation

  Soak the bread in the milk until absorbed. Sauté the chopped tomato and pimiento in the oil. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and thyme. Add the bread and crabmeat. Cook for 2 minutes so that the flavors blend. Pour in the stock and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Place in a food processor and blend. Add the cream and serve hot.

  Fish Soup

  May be served as a main course accompanied by salad. This healthy and delicious recipe makes four servings, because we are assuming that after their first embraces, the lovers will need another aphrodisiac hit.

  Ingredients

  4 cups Fish Stock

  1/2 cup white wine

  2 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded

  1 medium carrot, peeled and cut in thick slices

  1 large potato, peeled and cut in thick slices

  1/4 cup minced onion

  1 clove garlic, crushed

  1/2 cup minced celery

  1 tablespoon soy sauce

  1 bay leaf

  Salt and pepper to taste

  2 medium fillets (1/2 pound) fish, preferably corbina, conger eel, or sea bass

  2 squid, cleaned and cut in strips

  1/2 pound shellfish (such as clams or mussels), removed from shell

  Preparation

  Cook the stock and all the ingredients except the fish, squid, and shellfish for 15 minutes. Add them and cook 10 minutes more.

  Carrot Soup

  This old Arab recipe is still a favorite of men who hope to shine at the time of making love. For an exotic touch, you can substitute 1/2 cup orange juice for 1/2 cup of the stock.

  Ingredients

  2 large carrots

  2 cups Vegetable Stock

  1 clove

  1 stick cinnamon

  1 knob fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

  1 pinch cardamom

  1 pinch nutmeg

  Salt and pepper to taste

  1 teaspoon honey

  4 tablespoons cream

  Preparation

  Peel the carrots and cut them in thin slices. Cook in a covered saucepan with the other ingredients—except the honey and cream—until soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Put in a food processor and blend. Process. Return to the saucepan to warm but don’t allow the mixture to boil. Add the honey and cream, stir, and serve immediately.

  Cold Soups

  Nearly all of these soups may be prepared in advance. They are even more delicious after spending a night in the refrigerator, especially the gazpacho. The recipes are for two, but if you have an orgy or want to have something left to restore you the day after your first date, double the recipe.

  Margarita Island

  Very sensual, but this soup won’t keep because it darkens in a matter of hours, turning the unappetizing color of greenish mud.

  Ingredients

  1 large ripe avocado, peeled, seeded, and chopped

  1 small glass grapefruit juice

  Juice of 1/2 lemon

  1 cup Chicken Stock, with fat skimmed off

  1 teaspoon soy sauce

  Salt and pepper to taste

  A few drops Tabasco

  2 large shrimp, cooked and cleaned

  Preparation

  Mix all the ingredients except the shrimp in a blender and serve cold, garnished with a shrimp in each bowl.

  Gazpacho

  There are many recipes for this cold tomato soup typical of Spain, but this one is very simple to prepare.

  Ingredients

  4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded

  1 small can tomato juice

  1 pickle

  1 tablespoon grated onion

  1 tablespoon ketchup

  2 rounded tablespoons mayonnaise

  1 tablespoon vinegar

  Salt, paprika, and garlic powder to taste

  2 tablespoons minced cilantro

  1 hard-boiled egg, diced

  Preparation

  Place all the ingredients in a food processor, except the cilantro and egg, and blend. Cool in the refrigerator until it is time to serve. Garnish with the cilantro and egg.

  Apple Holiday

  Never fear, this doesn’t taste like dessert. In fact, you can barely taste the apple.

  Ingredients

  1 large green apple, peeled and sliced

  1 tablespoon butter

  1 cup Vegetable Stock