Women love to be wined and dined. In fact, food, romance and even lust have been linked together for centuries. Did you know that cooking, eating and making love use all five basic senses – sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell? What goes on in the kitchen, if done right, can ultimately extend to the bedroom.

So rather than spend a fortune at a swanky restaurant, why not plan a table for two at home? Surely there is nothing more romantic than preparing a lavish spread for your other half! In fact, this meal story was done as a prelude to my eighth wedding anniversary (which fell on the September 26th) and my lovely wife gamely agreed to ‘share the romance’ with The Weekend Chef crew.

Romantic food doesn’t necessarily have to include caviar, escargot, oysters or champagne. There are many other ‘foods of love’ that tantalise the tastebuds and elicit romance.

One of my favourite ingredients is the mushroom. I love its taste, texture and versatility. The best part is that it’s also considered a powerful aphrodisiac by many cultures. With that in mind, I decided to set the stage by making Stuffed Mushrooms for the appetizer. I normally use Portobello mushrooms, but this time I could not find good fresh ones, so I used Swiss Brown mushrooms instead. These mushrooms are much smaller, but taste just fine. The stems are cut off, chopped and fried with garlic, chillies and breadcrumbs before being stuffed back into the mushroom caps and baked.

Next up was Roasted Vegetables. My wife and I have always loved roasted vegetables but I give my version a slight twist with sherry vinegar. I roasted red and yellow capsicum, zucchini, fennel, carrots and sweet potato in a sherry vinegar vinaigrette, and then laid them on a bed of mixed green salad.

For the main meal, I deliberated between Pork Chops in Apple Sauce and Braised Beef in Brandy Sauce. There’s nothing like giving your guests a choice and so I decided to do both.

My mother used to make a rich stew filled with chunks of beef and loads of vegetables for us. I used that as the inspiration to create the braised beef in brandy sauce and I used beef steaks rather than chunks. This dish is very rich, full of flavour and very satisfying. The tomatoes add to its romantic allure, for after all, tomatoes are known as the love apple! I added a little brandy at the end to enhance the flavours of the beef and vegetables. This dish is served with herbed buttered rice to further draw out the flavours and soak up the sauce.

When I was a wee lad, my family used to go to the Lake Club Buttery to celebrate special occasions, and I never failed to order the pork chops with applesauce. This is my own version of that wonderful childhood memory. I make my own applesauce rather than buy the canned variety. I simmered the pork in the applesauce to enhance its succulence and to infuse it with the flavour of apples.

For dessert, I chose to go with an original creation. Something light and fruity, yet quite delectable. It’s a dessert that has proven to be a favourite with my kids, Michael and Sarah, as well as with my wife. I call it Caramelised Pears and serve it with chilled Chantilly Cream – which is simply a fancy name for sweetened and flavoured whipped cream. It never hurts to use a little French to stoke the fires of romance! The pears go just as well with ice cream too.

And of course to finish with a flourish, we needed some chocolate! Being the chocolate fiend that I am, I had to find a way to fit chocolate in this meal, especially since it’s the ultimate in romance food and seduction.

Legend has it that Montezuma the ancient Aztec emperor, as well as Casanova the legendary lover, both consumed large amounts of chocolate to heighten their libido. Modern research however has shown that the effects of chocolate are more pronounced on women than on men. Regardless of who gets a greater kick out of chocolate, what better way to cultivate romance than to serve home-made truffles! I made two kinds – dark chocolate and praline - both coated with chocolate.

So there you have it - food for love! But really, it is not the menu that creates romance. Ultimately it is the love that goes into the preparation that really means the most. The simplest meal prepared with great love can be more romantic than a splendid meal fit for a Queen.

I had a lot of fun with this meal story and I can only hope that my guests had as much fun as I did. After all, we do know that happy people live longer and that love, romance and having fun are all part of my happiness pill.

Guten Apettit!