The similarities between sex and food, or at least the emotions they invoke in us, have been found to be surprisingly similar.
A recent study conducted in China has found there is a positive correlation between the responses to eating food and sex.
An unlikely pair of comedian turned MasterChef Chris Forrest and chef Pete Goffe-Wood seem to have worked this out, and have come up with a cooking show that is going to give Joburg audiences the experience of a three-course meal, served with salacious, suggestive puns.
The show, Don’t Burn your sausage, is almost two years old, having come to life after Forrest and Goffe-Wood met on Celebrity MasterChef, where Forrest was a contestant who went on to win the show and Goffe-Wood a judge.
The two discovered their finesse for dry humour with a tinge of naughty. They then got into conversation about combining the elements of cooking and comedy. And seeing as they are professionals in these respective fields, this is a match made in comedic-foodie heaven.
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Goffe-Wood explained the link between the culinary arts and bedroom exploits he learnt as a younger man in varsity.
“The idea for the show stems from when I was a student. A band of friends realised that we had a far higher success on dates if you cooked for a woman than when you went to a restaurant.”
#DontBurnYourSausage with @ChrisForrestSA& @PeteGW as they whisk up deliciously funny evenings from 22 - 24 Sept https://t.co/gTxvc537mY pic.twitter.com/QBknb5Htvw
— Emperors Palace (@EmperorsPalace) September 11, 2017
“(The secret behind this logic is that) you have the date in a controlled environment, you control the music, the mood and then there’s the cooking. This is the winning combo.
“Women like the fact that you’ve spent the whole day planning and shopping for them,” he said.
Cooking in the nude? Don't burn your sausage!
It’s this impression of effort and that everyone has an interest in either sex or food that makes the show intriguing.
“This is one of the more interesting things about it, is it comedy? Is it cooking? It’s a combination. We cook three courses, from scratch, a starter, main course and dessert or foreplay, intercourse and afterglow,” Goffe-Wood said.
Forrest interjects: “We’re still not sure if it’s a funny cooking demonstration or a stand up show that has cooking as a prop.”
Goffe-Wood adds: “There’s an element of it that’s scripted, and we’ve got some interesting gags relating to food and similarities and what to look out for while cooking.”
The two play on their strengths to make the show the success it has grown to become; Forrest with his improv skills gets the audience interested and participating, while Goffe-Wood keeps the fires of the stove burning.
A large portion of the show is getting people to talk about their cooking experiences.
The menu is kept the same throughout the duration of the show’s run and audience members are given recipe cards so that they can try their hand at making the food at home.
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The show is as real-life as they come.
That means, they’ve had to endure some disasters while performing. And there’s been a couple.
Given the attitudes of the individuals, even disasters that take place while the show is on don’t phase them.
“We’ve had technical problems. Everything trips midway cooking and there’s no power, I’ve weighed out ingredients incorrectly, we dropped an egg (in Grahamstown) and we’ve had to find an egg while the show is busy in the Monument building in Grahamstown. It’s had its challenges.
"I have burned chicken a couple of times. We work on induction plates, it’s instant heat, very hot and quite a skill to do it. But as I learned from my chef-friend here, you don’t call it burning, you call it caramelising,” they explained.
And if the thrill of sexy-food talk is not enough, then there’s the added possibility they will present the show in the nude, with aprons covering the essential bits.
There’s a catch: the show must be sold out.
“It’s even worse for me because I have to go into the audience and provide demonstrations. So I have to stand in specific angles while cooking,” Forrest said.
The energy between the two men is magnetic, they have a way of making you comfortable and drawing you in, an energy I am certain will make the show a success.
* The show will be on from September 22-24 at the Red Roman Shed, Emperors Palace. Tickets from R150. No under 16s allowed.