| January 2022 You never forget your first. It was a cool, spring morning on the north shore of Kauai. A mist hung in the air, partially obscuring the sight of the Pacific, though each breath tasted of salt. There was a hunger inside me I felt might never be sated, that is until I reached out my tongue for my first taste. I'm talking about my first acai bowl. I don't know what you were thinking! Acai is a fruit of the Amazon with a reputation for feeding many types of hunger. It is the fruit of a palm tree that was little known outside of South America until the twentieth century. This is mostly because the fruit is fragile and was impossible to transport until the advent of modern shipping methods.
Don't forget that Valentine's Day is almost here! If you don't have a copy of my bestselling cookbook, Fork Me, Spoon Me, now is the time to order one! You can get it in both paperback and ebook format from Amazon.com or your favorite retailer. (You can even special order from your neighborhood bookstore and support a local business!)
It was the introduction of the acai bowl that helped this strange, dark fruit take off in the United States. According to Brit + Co--possibly not the most academic source but there isn't a great deal of information on the evolution of the acai bowl--the acai bowl was invented in Brazil in the 1980s and gained wild popularity as part of a health movement in the 1990s. An acai bowl is made from frozen acai fruit puree. It is usually topped with or sometimes even blended with banana, to give the exotic fruit a more sweet and familiar flavor. (Acai is extremely low in sugar compared to most fruits.) Other acai bowl toppings can include berries, granola or honey. (Of course, these days you can also get your acai bowl topped with everything from bee pollen to avocado to cacao.) Acai fruit is not traditionally classified as an aphrodisiac. In fact, there's no mention of it in any book in my research library. But as we learn more about this powerfully nutritious fruit, acai is increasingly recognized as an aid to sexual health. For starters, recent research shows that acai may be linked with improved fertility in women. One study even showed that eating the fruit regularly could improve the quality of a woman's eggs. But the biggest connection being made between acai and sexual health is the fact that the fruit has several heart health benefits. (And what's good for your heart is bound to benefit your sexual performance.) Acai is believed to help reduce inflammation and lower LDL cholesterol. Of course, more research is required to understand just how impactful this can be on sexual health and sexual performance. I go into greater detail as to all the ways acai may enhance your sexual health on EatSomethingSexy.com, if you're interested in taking the deep dive. As for what to do with acai other than making it the base of a breakfast bowl, powdered acai can be used in smoothies. Of course, I like to find more creative uses for my aphrodisiac ingredients. Right now I'm working on an acai pudding recipe. (It's a little more of a struggle than I anticipated.) But my favorite use for acai is a savory application. It is what I use to give my chili recipe an earthy quality. Sound crazy? It's insanely delicious! You have to try it! I posted the recipe below along with a couple of other fun things to get your year off to a sexy start. | 
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