ISABEL ALLENDE

On Americans, sex and food... 332k WAV audio file 1Mb QuickTime movie

BIBLIO-FILE

"Aphrodite: Stories, Recipes, & Other Aphrodisiacs" (1998) "The Infinite Plan" (1993) "Eva Luna" (1987) "The House of the Spirits" (1982)

Allende's book Aphrodite

SYNOPSIS: 'APHRODITE'

"Aphrodite" is an epicurean tome that simmers together the themes of food and sex. The book, dubbed a "memoir," combines a cookbook, ruminations on erotic love, and theorizing on the historical and biological connections between food and seduction. Allende's mother provided the recipes.

PROFILE

Born: 1942 in Chile Left Chile in 1973 when her uncle, President Salvadore Allende, was killed in a coup. Among the most notable Latin American writers, her books blend politics, fantasy and feminist perspective.

Goddess of sexual appetite

Isabel Allende discusses new book on sex and food

March 31, 1998
Web posted at: 5:14 p.m. EDT (1714 GMT)

(CNN) -- Writer Isabel Allende admits she can't follow a recipe. Still, her new book has plenty of them. "Aphrodite" is not a cookbook named after the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty, it's a dreamy hybrid of short stories, reminiscences and recipes, reflecting on the sensual side of food.

Allende is best known for the magic realism of such bestsellers as "Eva Luna" and "In the House of Spirits." "Aphrodite" is her first book in five years.

The author spoke with Miles O'Brien recently on CNN Sunday Morning.

O'BRIEN: This is a big departure from your previous book which dealt with grief, the loss of your daughter, specifically. Was this part of the healing process for you, writing this book?

ALLENDE: I think so. I think this is like a very healthy reaction to a long period of mourning. Eros is very close to death. And both things, in a way, balance each other.

O'BRIEN: How did you get the idea of (writing about) food and sensuality? Is that an area that hasn't been written much about?

ALLENDE: It started with erotic dreams. After a long period of being in a depression and very sad, I started having these dreams. The dreams of food and sex led me to start researching about aphrodisiacs and the relationship between gluttony and lust. This is what the book is about.

O'BRIEN: What did your research tell you? I guess (on) most aphrodisiacs ... there's not much scientific proof.

ALLENDE: No. Everything is in the mind. The great sexual organ is the mind, and most of the aphrodisiacs are considered aphrodisiacs because of the shape, or the smell, or the color. And very few have any scientific basis except certain drugs, of course.

O'BRIEN: Now you say at some point during your book ... that one of the most sensual things a man can do is have some culinary skills, to cook a beautiful meal for his lover. Explain that.

ALLENDE: A man who cooks is very sexy. A woman who cooks is not that sexy. Because it's associated in our mind to the domestic cliche of the woman. But (with) a man, it's always wonderful and so this is what I would recommend to new lovers. Learn to cook.

O'BRIEN: So food and sex are linked?

ALLENDE: For me, they are. And in most cultures they are, too. Everything that has to do with food is sensuous. In the United States, however, we are eating all the time. We have a problem with obesity. And yet, we don't enjoy food that much. This is the only country where we talk about snacks and quickies, for quick sex and quick food.

O'BRIEN: One of the interesting aspects of this book is where you've got a lot of research material from your 72-year-old, conservative, Catholic mother. How were those conversations?

(LAUGHTER)

ALLENDE: My mother lives in Chile. And I correspond with her every day. I write either a fax or a letter and we talk on the phone. When I had finished the research of the book, I realized that a book like this that was about food really needed some recipes. So I called her. And I said, "I'm going to send you by fax a list of ingredients. And I want you to come up with recipes for lovers that (are) easy. Because if you're going to spend the day cooking, you won't have any energy left for love-making."

My mother immediately entered into the game... and said, "OK, I'll do this." She came up with all these wonderful recipes. Then she tried them on my stepfather, who is 80, by the way.

O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. Did she tell you were the results there? Or did it work, shall we say?

ALLENDE: This is like black magic. You tell a person that (he) is a victim of black magic (and) they get sick, really sick. But if they don't know that they're being victims.... Aphrodisiacs (are) the same. If you tell them that ... they are eating aphrodisiac food, it works.

Related story:

• Tapes emerge as evidence against Chile's Pinochet - January 30, 1998
• More protests greet Pinochet as he takes Senate seat - March 12, 1998

Related site:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• The House of Spirits, the film
• Mother Jones Interactive Interview with Isabel Allende

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.