Aphrodisiac Food Region

You’re in the right place for Valentine’s Day! It’s all here; all the Lustful food your heart desires is grown in this region.

Vanilla; according to an old Mexican folklore, was the plant that the young daughter of the fertility goddess transformed herself into, so she could provide pleasure and happiness to her earthly lover.

Pure chocolate contains a number of "love and feel-good chemicals" which releases dopamine in the pleasure centres of the brain. The Aztecs referred to chocolate as ‘nourishment of the Gods’ for its serotonin; known to promote a sense of well-being and relaxation.

The Aztecs also identified the aphrodisiac quality of the fruit hanging in pairs on the avocado tree and called it "Ahuacuatl “ which translates to something that resembles the male anatomy, but enjoyed for its sensual texture of the avocado.

A ‘honeymoon’ was named for the first month of a marriage where people would give the couple enough mead (honey wine) to last a month and ensure happiness and fertility and sweeten their union. Honey was also used in Egyptian medicine as a cure for sterility. Similarly Coriander was mentioned in the 1000 year old Book of The Arabian nights, as an ingredient in a fertility concoction to cure a childless couple of 40 years.

Coffee is a well know stimulant of the body and the mind, and chilli, turmeric, and ginger stirs the circulation to add a bit of spice to your life.

Popular aphrodisiac fruits are bananas, strawberries, and pineapples, for their richness in potassium and vitamins. But shellfish and in particular oysters are probably the food most associated with being an aphrodisiac, because of their high zinc content and omega 3 qualities.

…and to think! We have all these luscious sexy foods right here in the tropics for Valentine’s Day.

Open Season for Wild Barra

Whilst there maybe controversy of how a fish was named Barramundi; most commonly thought to be an aboriginal name for fish with big scales, the fact still remains it’s an Australian name for a fish inhabitant in Australia. So it’s highly questionable when you see an Asian Lates Calcarifer species imported into Australia and advertised and named on menus as ‘Wild Barramundi’.

Retailers in Queensland must declare the country of origin of all seafood in their refrigerated display. However just last year the Northern Territory bought in a new rule that restaurant must now declare the same on their menu which has sparked a movement to have this regulation widened to the whole of Australia to enable consumers to make informative buying decisions.

A pilot program was initiated in the Cairns regions in 2008 by the Queensland Seafood Industry Association to brand our seafood and urge the consumer to ask ‘Is it Local’ and insist in ‘Queensland Catch’. This campaign is about to be further launched throughout the state to bring awareness to our local wild caught seafood.

February marks the opening of the season of wild caught Barramundi and a good wet season has expedited their journey early down the rivers and into the estuaries along with a number of other very good quality fish. One such fish is the underrated Threadfin which is otherwise (and redundantly) known as Blue and King Salmon. These fish make excellent and economic eating. So you should now start to see in the marketplace, some fabulous fresh local wild caught Barramundi and their mates.