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The Loving Chef
The Loving Chef is my first novel, co-authored with the chef and connoisseur of slow food, Panagiotis Koukouvitis. It was published in Athens, in 2014, by Kedros Publishers, one of the most prestigious publishers in Greece. I am currently translating The Loving Chef into English.
Synopsis:
Dominic is a young artist who lives in Thessaloniki, the most erotic city of northern Greece. One day he stumbles upon a peculiar little shop owned by a very old man selling delicacies and rare raw ingredients. Dominic soon learns the secrets of gourmet cooking and aphrodisiac recipes, and embarks on a life dedicated to exquisite culinary experiences and superb lovemaking. Able to decipher the personality of the women he wants to seduce, Dominic creates the perfect menu for each one of them. All the recipes are original and are included in the book.
As Dominic grew older, his personal aesthetics changed, together with his taste in women. He could no longer imagine himself making love to a skinny girl, who might be fretting over each bite he had prepared for her. The realm of sensations is very demanding. The right dosage is always necessary. The greatest pleasures are found at the place where mind and body go together, hand in hand, where excess and deprivation are both under control. Most people believe that passion is a weakness, a loss of all moderation. Dominic knew it was not so and he had learned that in his own kitchen. Use more pepper and you will spoil the dish; less salt and it will be inedible.
Passion is a balancing act on a tightrope. It requires patience, confidence, tranquillity, slow steps. It needs faith and love, respect for the abyss down below. It calls for impulsiveness but also caution.
Dominic had discovered that mature women knew that secret. They ate with a hearty appetite, relished the meal without excessive anxiety, opened themselves to his food and his love. That was the reason these days he was hardly ever attracted to younger women, unlike other men his age who were looking for self-confirmation. Dominic did not need any confirmation other than a woman’s moans of pleasure. The older his lover, the better. For mature women would never be seduced with cheap tricks. They demanded the truth.
He lifted Eva from the couch and carried her to the bedroom. There he would extinguish the fires he had himself lit. He took off her clothes, one item at a time, slowly but purposefully. Now there was still one thing left to do.
‘Are you my canvas?’ he asked her.
‘Oh, yes…,’ she moaned, not really understanding yet.
He popped to the kitchen for a moment, leaving her purring in bed like a feline, and brought back the two small jars containing their dessert: white and dark chocolate mousse. He placed Eva on the dark duvet, white on black, and started painting on her naked body with his finger. Around her nipples he drew white daisies. He counted her ribs with lines of dark chocolate. On her belly button he placed a small raspberry. One more a little further down, on her mons Veneris.
He looked at her with admiration for both the canvas and the work of art.
‘And now my love, I shall eat you,’ he said. ‘But first - a monotype.’
He removed all of his clothes and lay on top of her. The sweet imprint passed onto his own body too. Having both become art, they licked each other until no trace of chocolate was left on their naked skin. Only the two raspberries were still in place, one on Eva’s belly button and the other at the centre of her femininity. Dominic pulled those off softly with his teeth. He gave the first one to Eva, mouth to mouth. He ate the second one; it was sweet, with a touch of sourness. He imagined paradise tasted the same.
Then they celebrated together the age of maturity.
Menu
Ravioli in spicy broth
Spicy avocado salad
Veal in chocolate sauce with mashed potatoes
White and dark chocolate mousse
(all recipes are included in the book, at the end of the relevant chapter)
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