What are the foods of love?

Planning a romantic meal can be hard enough for most men but it seems they also have to contend with women not knowing what they want, according to research published today.

Two separate surveys were conducted to discover what culinary creation would make women happiest on Valentine's Day.

Where both polls agreed was that women fail to rate traditional aphrodisiacs such as oysters, asparagus and champagne.

However, they differed when it came to the ideal meal, leaving men none the wiser.

Carbonara topped the list of food women said was most likely to get them in the mood for love, according to a survey of 1,000 women for stock cube brand Oxo.
Another pasta dish, lasagne, was the runner-up followed by quiche, ravioli and risotto.

But another poll among the same number of women, this time for catering company Stem London, revealed that 63 per cent thought seafood was the most romantic food.

While dinner can be a route to romance for some couples it seems singletons with a dog have an added advantage: Of 1,100 dog owners questioned in another survey, 16 had married someone they met while taking their pet for a walk and 23 had formed a long-term relationship the same way. Woof.