Cook Like a Sexy Italian

Last week, I wrote about the “Men on the Menu” book by Bambi Smyth. She said she found The One in Rome. It got me thinking some more about Italian men and cooking. Two enjoyable pastimes. 

Most nights when my fingers tap away on the computer keyboard, I have a man of Italian descent on my mind. Mr J is the hero of my Hen Party story, and he has some moments of laying on the charm which is hard for me, and the heroine to resist. 

In the past, I've certainly read a few Harlequin Mills & Boons stories with Italian, Greek and Spanish alpha heroes.  But my inspiration to write about a man with an Italian heritage goes back even further in time. 

When I was a university student at a party, Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome propositioned me with a very rude and crude va-jay-jay offer. I was shocked and hot-faced. I gave him a suitable and fiery "NO" answer that he wouldn't forget in a hurry (it was a little bit physical).

While his volatile temper exploded, my mates shepherded me out of the party house before Mr Dark and Handsome had a chance to retaliate against me. We never spoke to each other again, but there were some moments of gazing at each other across the university campus or looking at a tempest of emotions waiting to unleash. (I was scared too!)

Over the years that have passed, the memory of him kind of stuck in my mind, and I have often wondered, "what if I did try and tame that tiger?" Shrug! Who knows if the direction of my life might have changed. But what I do know is that the encounter with the rude and crude, dark and handsome tiger is brilliant inspiration for a romance story. I'm writing a better version of the guy I met at university. Mr J is a story hero, I could lose my head over and fall in love with.     

Now onto the cooking...

A couple of years ago, a video advertisement for olive oil appeared on the internet. It featured a short cooking show with a man, Alfredo, who called himself a “sexy Italian”. He is bare-chested and bare-bummed for some of the scenes. There’s also mention of the romance cookbook novels he’s written. From behind the elaborate balustrade on the staircase, he teases with a fleeting view of his total nakedness.

The video sets out to compare the sexy Italian’s knowledge of cooking with different types of olive oil with that of a less sophisticated Australian man, a “yobbo” or a “bogan”. I don’t think the acting in the advertisement is meant to be taken seriously but your lips might curl into a smile at Alfredo’s frolics in the kitchen and beyond.

Grazie

Ashlyn