Agent Provocateur

The woman said yes, and ‘‘they booked the most expensive suite in the hotel for the night,’’ says Bhatia.

You could slot aphrodisiacs in the same deceptively alluring category as a heaven after life and a discount sale, but their hold over the human imagination is equally strong.

While talk about their efficacy might raise a few cynical eyebrows, there’s no doubting their credibility as gastronomic experiences.

Porcini mushroom risotto
The Parmesan cheese dominates for the first couple of seconds, until the netherworldly flavours of the mushrooms start kicking in. But chef Bhatia insists the coup de grace is the white truffle oil the risotto is lightly flavoured with. ‘‘It’s highly expensive, and difficult to find, in India at least, but the flavouring provides that perfect balance.’’ The pasta marinara is relatively less exotic, but for those who find a link between seafood and passion, this one—littered with nearly every kind of crustacean—is an all-in-one deal.

Smoked Oyster Shooters
Take a shot glass. Pour some vodka and Tabasco and plonk a smoked oyster into it. Romil Ratra, who runs Mediterranean restaurant Caliente in south Mumbai, would rather you glug your aphrodisiac than eat it. ‘‘It tastes spicy, sweet and tangy at the same time,’’ says Ratra. But the best part is nibbling into the oyster at the end of the slam dunk.

Paya Ki Nihaari
Those in the know will tell you that trotters are possibly the most resilient parts of a lamb/goat. ‘‘It’s among the most exercised parts, and therefore, the most difficult to cook,’’ says Paul Noronha, senior sous chef, ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton, Mumbai. But in Lucknow, they always knew how to work around it. The trotters are slow cooked, preferably overnight, along with saffron, cloves and roots of the betel plant. By morning, the lamb stock blends with the marrow and meat juices to form an aromatic, gelatinous gravy that is served with taftan (leavened bread). ‘‘The paya is also a highly rejuvenative breakfast dish. The nawabs followed it up with, I think, opium-laced paan,’’ says Ahmed Ali Qureshi, master chef, ‘‘but sadly, nobody these days knows the recipe for that.’’

Unagi No Kabayaki
That’s Japanese for grilled eel served on skewers in a Kabayaki sauce. And, says Farrokh Khambata, who runs Joss, a southeast Asian eatery in Mumbai, it takes over a decade for one to get the hang of deboning the fish right. But once it’s grilled, the slightly firm flesh agrees with the sticky rice that accompanies it on its journey down the gullet, delivering a gelatinous aftertaste. ‘‘Eel is believed to have aphrodisiacal qualities because of its iodine content and is said to impart vitality,’’ says Khambata.

Ginseng Chocolate
Mumbai chocolatier Zeba Mitha Kohli couples her passion with many different things, including wasabi and chilled strawberries. But the ginseng chocolate gets her vote. It’s good ol’ roundels of sensuous dark chocolate, but the sudden pungency of the crushed ginseng takes one by surprise, leaving a lingering aftertaste that has two faces.

(With inputs from Debanjana Chaudhuri)