Odds for your Bodkin

You know oysters are reputed to get your motor runnin’, and chocolate is always high on the list of foods that put people in the mood for nekkid-time; but have you ever looked at the humble prune and thought, “Aw, yeah! Let’s plow the back forty?” (That could have been phrased more delicately.) In Shakespeare’s day, prunes were complimentary in brothels, as they were reputed to energize the sexy bits of human anatomy. Sweet potatoes were another sure-fire aphrodisiac, perhaps proving that English cuisine is as limited in romance as it is in flash. Or perhaps not — Francine Segan, food historian and author, discusses the foods that made Elizabethan’s take off those ruffled collars and doublets and get down to making, as Shakespeare himself so tenderly put it, “the beast with two backs.” Rrawr! Truffles, caviar, frog saliva, rhinoceros horns — all your favorites — were part of their ardor larders, as you’ll learn between 7 and 9 p.m. at 609 Café and Lounge (609 Eastgate Avenue; 314-531-9800 or www.sfstl.com). Your $15 to $25 entry fee gets you a sampling of the aphrodisiacs, but no guarantee that you’ll have cause to benefit from ingesting them. Proceeds benefit the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis.
Thu., Nov. 15, 2007