Nothing goes better together than food and sex. Consider the success of the cookbook InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge published by Terrace Publishing of Waco, Tex. The book has sold more than 225,000 copies in the U.S. and Canada since the first edition was published in 1997. The authors have recently updated the title, adding 65 new recipes and additional photography (mostly of nude people, garnished) for a just-published 10th anniversary edition.
The "lip-smacking, finger-kissing'' recipes are organized by ingredient, starting with chocolate and working through such temptations as avocados, grapes, oysters and edible flowers. They are written as straightforward preparations, but are prefaced by suggestive commentary from couples who tested the recipes in their own bedroom laboratories.
For example, after reminding readers that Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, founder of the Kellogg cereal company, advised nymphomaniacs to stay away from peppers, the book offers a half-dozen recipes for chilies. One of them inspired "Sam and Megan, married two years" to exclaim, "It was a good thing the recipe called for some simmering time because we were definitely simmering."
Deborah Werksman, editorial manager of gift books at Sourcebooks, which distributes the book to the gift market, confirms that the book is "a steady seller, with occasional huge sales." As recently as two years ago a department store bought 9,000 copies for its lingerie section. "It's original, it's got a sense of humor and is visually astonishing," said Werksman. (IPG is distributor to the general trade.)
The original InterCourses has enjoyed especially strong sales through "passionate home parties" in which women gather in a settings much like a Tupperware party, except the ladies are boldly handling sex toys rather than burping plastic tubs. The mainstream got into the act, too; there was a feature on Good Morning America, and considerable newspaper coverage.
Mark Suchomel, president of IPG, said that sell-in for the anniversary edition has been strong, "particularly at the chains." He reported that "none of the major accounts have said they can't take it because it's too racy," adding, "It's a classy package."
The authors, who met when they were students at Baylor, conceived of the cookbook is a way to spice up their otherwise dull post-collegiate careers. Hopkins admits they did no scientific research to prove that the premise of the cookbook was valid. Instead, the recipes were vetted by couples recruited by the publishers, who then sprinkled their commentary throughout the book.
So, has the book helped Hopkins's sex life: "I've discovered that if you believe it's an aphrodisiac, then it's an aphrodisiac," she says.
