oysters

To Raise Intrepid Eaters, Skip the Children's Menu

One spring weekend, during a college semester abroad in Paris, I found myself the houseguest of a large French family at their home on the coast in Brittany. I didn't know them, but my friend Jenny's French aunt, Katherine, did, and she had insisted they would be thrilled to host Jenny and me for a long weekend.

Instead they had no idea who we were when we arrived with only Katherine's phone call as an introduction. Still, they opened their doors and offered us the guest room. Even though I was a couch-surfing, poor college kid, our brazen arrival still managed to embarrass me.

But that was nothing compared to the self-consciousness I felt the next day when the family's traditional Sunday brunch evolved into a five-course gastronomic feast featuring, among other things, oysters. I had never seen an oyster, much less tasted or manhandled one. I felt so provincial.

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Can Food Get You in the Mood? A Guy's Guide to Aphrodisiacs

Hey, you guys… listen up. Valentine’s Day is this weekend. If you're in a significant relationship, this is the one day every year when you’re expected – no, mandated – to express your undying devotion to that person in your life whom you love more than…
(a)  beer
(b)  pizza
(c)  your dog
(d)  your mother
(e)  all of the above

This is also the day, every year, when there is extra pressure to, um, “perform” like the stud-muffin that you are. In other words, Valentine’s Day would be the wrong time to fall asleep early in front of the TV, dressed in your wife-beater undershirt and ketchup-stained boxers.

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