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Aphrodite

by Stéphanie Chasseloup

pp. 13-14
“The road of gluttony leads straight to lust and, if traveled a little farther, to the loss of one’s soul. This is why Lutherans, Calvinists, and other aspirants to Christian perfection eat so poorly. Catholics, on the other hand, who are born resigned to the concept of original sin and human frailty and who are purified by confession, free to go and sin again, are much more flexible in regard to the groaning board, so much so that the expression ‘a cardinal’s tidbit’ was coined to define something delicious.
Lucky for me that I was brought up among the latter group and can devour as many treats as I wish with no thought of hell, only of my hips.”
Without food I couldn’t desire, I need to know the taste of people.

pp. 10-11
“This is how I remember all the men who have passed through my life – I don’t want to boast, there aren’t that many – some by the texture of their skin, others by the flavor of their kisses, the smell of their clothing, or the sound of their murmuring voice, and almost all of them are associated with some special food. The most intense carnal pleasure, enjoyed at leisure in a clandestine, rumpled bed, a perfect combination of caresses, laughter and intellectual games, has the taste of baguette, prosciutto, French cheese, and Rhine wine. I cannot separate eroticism from food and see no reason to do so. On the contrary, I want to go on enjoying both as long as strength and good humor last.”
So it is a vicious cycle, there couldn’t be sin without virtue.
Without sin there couldn’t be virtue.

Aphrodite
Isabel Allende
Harper Collins 1998
(translated by Margaret Sayers Peden)