Around the World in 11 Aphrodisiacs

For Shakespeare’s Orsino, music was the food of love. He must’ve never tried an edible aphrodisiac, then. From oysters to chocolate, many foods come with a reputation for boosting arousal. 

When it comes to the validity of aphrodisiac foods, many of their purported abilities remain unverified by scientific researchers. But that doesn’t stop diners from tucking into dishes, from spicy meat spreads to slimy fish, expecting sexual stimulation. The belief that consuming the genitalia of male animals stretches across cultures, but sometimes simply having an anatomically-suggestive shape—we’re looking at you, phallic sea worm—is enough to convince people that a food can boost arousal.

If you’d like to test out a few aphrodisiac dishes yourself, try seeking out one of these 11 foods.