This week in the Edmonton Journal it was reported that women actually prefer chocolate to sex! I imagine that this would leave a lot of males feeling a little uneasy… how on earth can they compete against chocolate? I am a fan of most chocolate, in particular a good cup of heavenly gourmet hot chocolate. However, I’m not sure if I prefer this delectable treat to sex. My understanding was that chocolate, in any shape or form, was in fact an aphrodisiac and therefore should possibly be enjoyed as a prelude to sex. Now this is possibly a way of having the best of both worlds.

In many ways chocolate and sex have been connected for centuries. Rather than competing they have actually existed side-by-side. For example, chocolate has always been and remains to be a fantastically romantic gift. The heart of most females could possibly be won over with a beautifully presented gourmet chocolate gift basket for almost any occasion. A Valentine gift would not be complete without at least a handful of heart-shaped chocolates.

My recommendations for a perfectly romantic evening would go something like this…

A romantic candle lit dinner, preferably outdoors in the fresh air on crisp, cool night. A light dinner will suffice. My husband recently made us a magnificent warm trout salad including grilled trout, thinly sliced red peppers and bok choy cooked for a few minutes in a pan with a dressing of soy, rice vinegar, mirin, ginger, garlic, chilli and sesame seed oil and served on a bed of fluffy rice. The focus of the meal can therefore become a rich chocolate dessert. As an undying fan of a good gourmet hot chocolate this would be my number one recommendation. Serving this hot chocolate with a few plain biscuits would be perfect. Now if there is indeed truth in the matter of chocolate being an aphrodisiac, well then the rest of the evening should take care of itself.

I believe the answer is sex AND gourmet hot chocolate.