I have just read a very serious and interesting study : women who drink red wine would like sex more than the others… Fantastic news, I will feel less guilty then. We already knew the beneficial effects of red wine like a reduction of cardiovascular risks, we now have one more reason to drink red wine, always with moderation, not to fall into the : ‘Temporary loss of inhibition caused by an outside stimulus’ (disinhibition’s definition). It reminds you of memories ?

A very serious study leaded by the University of Florence asserts : one to two glasses of wine a day are enough to increase women’s sexual desire. But not only, they selected 798 women (from 18 to 50 years old) without, according to them, any sexual problem. They were all Italian, Tuscan and healthy. They have been divided in 3 groups: the first one are women drinking 1 to 2 glasses of red wine a day. The second one, women who don’t drink at all and the third one, are occasional alcohol drinkers in general.

They all completed a questionnaire about their sexuality before and after the study.

The results show that group 1 has a higher score on responses related specifically to desire and lubrification.

We call it the ‘French Paradox’. Red wine plays an important role in blood circulation and would kindle the women’s key places, the lubrification of the vagina as well. It would also involved an oestrogens receptor which has much to do with the female desire… Peak of oestrogens just before ovulation, makes you wanting physical contacts… Sex in fact ! But let’s be a bit romantic, let’s call it the hormone of love.

So let’s forget the Tantra’s guide which doesn’t consider our frenzied life rhythm at all and explain that we will have to be prepared, both physically and psychologically, before sex, called ‘maithuna’…

……‘During the days and hours ahead the corporal fusion, man and woman will have to devote themselves to a few minute of meditation, mornings and evenings. Walks in the countryside will help to prepare the union of bodies. Be sensitive to the nature, to the smells it gives off. Yoga practice could promote this psychological preparation’……

No time to go picking poppies everyday and I don’t like yoga so I have a very simple and efficient solution : have a drink !

Dark chocolate has the same benefits, as well as exercise… So, a woman who prefers red wine, likes dark chocolate and goes to the gym, ‘Oh mon Dieu!’, it is fireworks in bed for sure !

As you could guess, to celebrate that, I organized, especially for you, a full menu, all with red wine !

‘Oeufs en Meurette’ followed by ‘Daube Provençale’ and to finish, a chocolate-red wine cake called ‘Rotweinkuchen’.

‘Oeufs en Meurette’, serves 4.

Typical Burgundy sauce, the Meurette is a red wine sauce made with pancetta, onions and/or shallots and spices.

Ingredients :

-1 or 2 eggs per person

-100g of pancetta

-100g of white mushrooms

-1 onion

-1 garlic clove

-1 tbsp of flour

-50cl of a good red wine

-1 bouquet garni

-1 tsp of sugar

-Butter

-Salt and pepper

-Stale bread to make some croutons

Method :

Cut the pancetta in little cubes, chopped the onion, garlic and mushrooms.

Fry the mushrooms in a bit of butter.

In another pan, cook the pancetta and onion with butter if necessary. Sprinkle the onion and pancetta with flour and stir until golden.

Add the wine, the bouquet garni, mushrooms, garlic and sugar, salt and pepper.

Reduce to very low heat and simmer for around 20min until the sauce get thicker and smooth.

Before serving, fry the croutons in butter (for a lighter version, you can toast them in the oven) and scratch them with garlic. Poached the eggs in boiled water with a few drops of white vinegar.

In a plate, set the croutons first, the eggs on the top and coat with the sauce.

 

To follow, here comes something so dear to my heart, ‘Daube à la Provençale’. I ate tens in my life, the one from my grand-mother, the one from my mum… But I have to confess that I had never cooked it before. My friend Nadine offered me a book last year ‘A table avec Marcel Pagnol’, she knows my love for Marcel Pagnol, his works, his scents and his accent…So I couldn’t miss the opportunity to go to page 123 et copy the recipe that in addition to having been tested and approved, will make you hearing the cicadas’ song.

‘Vé la Daube!’

Serves 6, a Sunday at ‘Les Baux’

Ingrédients :

– 1.5kg of beef chuck

– 3 big onions

– 3 carottes

– 75cl of red wine

– 1 bouquet garni

– 3 cloves

– 4 garlic cloves

– Peel of a half orange

– 200g of pancetta

– Vegetables stock

– Olive oil

-Salt and pepper

– Parsley for the presentation

Method :

The day before, while everyone is still having a nap, cut the meat in pieces. Peel and cut the vegetables : onions into quarters, carrots into chunks. Marinate everything in the fridge for one day with the wine, the bouquet garni, cloves, 2 garlic cloves and orange peel.

The following day, drain the meat, wipe it with a clean ‘estrasse’ (kitchen cloth). Fry the meat in an oiled pan with the rest of garlic. Sprinkle with flower and let it brown with pleasure.

Garnish the bottom of the ‘daubière’ with pancetta with the rind, add the meat, pour the marinade and vegetables. Salt and pepper and cook without the lid on a low heat till it reduced by half, then fill up with hot water –best with the vegetables stock-up to height of meat. Put the lid on and simmer on a low heat for at least 3 hours. Serve it sprinkled with parsley with boiled potatoes, fresh pasta or ricotta ravioli.

 

Let’s be a bit more naughty for dessert…

Rotweinkuchen – Red Wine Cake

A traditional German recipe

Ingredients

– 300g of plain flour

– 1 tsp of baking powder

– 2 tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder

– 250g of softened butter

– 250g of sugar

– 1 tsp vanilla sugar

– 5 eggs

– 125ml of red wine

– 100g of chocolate nuggets or grated dark chocolate

Glaze :

– 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

– 200ml of red wine

– Enough icing sugar to make a glaze thick enough to coat the cake (around 350g)

Preheat the oven to 175C, and grease a 22cm bundt tin.

Method :

Sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder, and set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar together until the sugars are dissolved and the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Now, using a spatula or a wooden spoon, fold in the dry ingredients a third at a time, alternately with the red wine. Finally, fold in the chocolate nuggets. Pour the mixture into the prepared bundt tin, and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cover with foil if it is browning too quickly.

Let it cool for 15 minutes in the tin before turning it out on a wire rack to cool further. Glaze the cake while it is still warm, but no longer piping-hot.

To make the glaze, whisk together the cocoa powder and red wine, and gradually whisk in enough icing sugar to make a smooth glaze. Spoon the glaze over the cake – you can either let it run in little rivulets down the lines of the cake, or spread it around the cake to make a thin, all-encompassing covering. Let the icing set for 20 minutes or so before eating.

It is a an easy cake to make, to transport and it will remain soft for a few days.

 

Eros and Bacchus can be delighted and have a toast together !