Katherine Gates has a way of talking me into anything. —Even neo-cannibalism.
In her new story, "Eat Me," Gates explores the world of "gourmet cannibals"— foodies who like to slather their lovers with honey, tie them up with kitchen twine, and stuff an apple in their mouth. Baste me and turn me over, darling! Actually, I think I'd like to be a pudding for Boxing Day.
Gate's subjects represent the ultimate slow-food orgasm, since the entire spectacle is the preparation, without digestion.
The cannibal crowd go to great lengths to explain that they are NOT Jeffrey Dahmer, and that this is all in good fun and delectable taste. But I think the photos speak for themselves. —So funny and titillating at the same time. If the subscribers to Cooks Illustrated saw this, I don't think there'd be any turning back.
Katherine Gates is a sexual anthropologist, whose book Deviant Desires transformed my idea of "fetish." Or, as Katherine would
say, the "ongoing metamorphosis of how we understand the human sexual
imagination." In her book, I found myself absorbed in her interviews with pony girls and
balloon-blowing enthusiasts, furverts and clown orgies, all the while
thinking, "I could do that, I would do that!" She talks to so many
REAL people, (as many women as men), that it breaks through all the
stultifying porn clichés about what is normal or extreme. There's a little bit of a "plushie" in everyone, don't you think?
I once was shot by Vanity Fair magazine as the centerpiece of a large oyster and pearl tray. I was surrounded by oysters, seaweed, and jewels. I didn't like the photographers, who treated me like a clam shell, but the props were really arousing. It was like taking that "peel me a grape" meme one step further.
Edible sex can definitely go wrong, of course. When I was young and naive, I tried some of those "chocolate-flavored" erotic oils... BLECH! It was like "Deep Inside Robitussin."
Here's decent alternative for the fledgling "cannibal": Pour on the Hershey's syrup and forget all the phony stuff. Better yet, melt some real Ghirardelli's. Real food is soooo much better than anything you can find in those "flavored lube" disasters. Coconut oil, almond oil, apricot...yum. And there's nothing like a real whipped cream party. I guess I'm just more of the candy thermometer type.
Photo from Mukis Kitchen
