the aphrodisiac history of blowfish (fugu)

It is one of the ocean’s ugliest creatures, not to mention most deadly. The danger with this odd-looking warm water fish is its high content of a poison called tetrodotixoin, considered to be over 1,000 times deadlier than cyanide. In Japan, where the market for blowfish is alive and well, chefs must be specially licensed to prepare this deadly delicacy.
 
Perhaps it is the sense of danger surrounding a fugu feast that rates this toxic sea creature among the world’s best-known aphrodisiacs. (It is said to have a numbing effect that feels a bit like novacaine on the inside of the cheeks). Some say it is the tingling sensation most diners experience in their lips and cheeks from the trace of poison remaining in the “safe” flesh of the fish that gives blowfish its sexy allure. Others insist that it is strictly the fugu testicles soaked in sake, not the steaks or meat, that makes fugu effective as an aphrodisiac.