A Martini Masterpiece That is a Libation of Love

Oh, the fun a person can have with vodka. Especially if that person is an award-winning chef with an artist’s spirit. “I want to jump in the fire,” explains Sae An, executive chef at Cork Restaurant & Bar in Westmont, N.J. “I want to expand people’s palates.” An, who was born in Korea and moved to Philadelphia with his family when he was seven, certainly has done that with his latest cocktail creation. It’s called Cork’s Chocolate Covered Cherry Martini and it’s all about putting people in the mood for love. “Most people believe that alcohol increases sexual responsiveness, partly because alcohol has a dis-inhibiting effect. If a drink can create a warming sensation throughout the body and lower sexual inhibitions, you’ve got something that will make a person feel hot and sexy,” says An, who received the title of “Best New Chef” during the KitchenAid The Book and The Cook Best New Chef Competition in 2006. But hold your libido. There’s more.

“Chocolate is often associated with romance, and the Aztecs believed it helped both men and women when it came to sexual power,” An continues. “As for the cherry, the word ‘cherry’ refers to both the tree and the fleshy fruit that contains a single stony seed. Cherries were valued over the centuries for their taste as well as beauty.” Who are we to argue with the Aztecs? And the importance of the cherry is well-documented. But wait, there’s more still. “Historically, cherries were thought to be both an aphrodisiac and an analgesic, able to relieve the pain of gout and arthritis, hence the stories of old men seeking young brides with ‘lips like cherries,’” An says. “Also the slang ‘cherry’ referred to the virginity of the female. Cherries have always been associated with sex and romance.” Well, you learn something new every day, but enough history and culture. Here’s how you make a romantic, sexy, dis-inhibiting andvery adult beverage.