Couples with cooking experience give their recipe for happiness

Carol Thomé, 31 years old & Duca Mendes, 35 years old

Audiovisual producers and presenters of ‘Cozinha para 2’, an internet gastronomy series. They have been together for six years.

What is the role of the kitchen in the relationship?

CAROL It is our main living area. We watch TV while we cook dinner, we welcome friends there… Food is our connection.

DUCA It’s where we make up before taping our show if we’re on the outs. What keeps the flame burning?

CAROL Laugh at yourself. And that we both know how to do very well.

DUCA We are very restless, one stimulates the other to always reinvent itself. So it’s hard to stay warm. When were they sure that the recipe could only work?

CAROL We met on the internet and, the day we met for the first time, we moved in together. It had immediate harmony, atmosphere and passion.

Lígia Fonseca, 23 years old & Rodrigo Oliveira, 33 years old

She is an actress; he, chef at Mocotó, in São Paulo. They’ve been together for six years.

Did the conquest take place through the stomach?

LIGIA My parents were regulars at the restaurant, but I had never been. My mother already said that the chef was passionate. She got it right: she rolled at first glance! I started going to Mocotó every day, even if it was just to eat an açaí, just to see it.

RODRIGO Our first kiss took place after Ligia’s first dose of cachaça.

When were they sure that the recipe could only work?

RODRIGO We broke up once, after six months of dating. Then I realized that living without her was impossible.

When the relationship gets lukewarm, what do you do to warm up?

RODRIGO Sex.

What do you consider an aphrodisiac?

LIGIA When Rodrigo makes a surprise, like a trip for two.

RODRIGO When we get time alone to dedicate to each other.

Bel Coelho, 35 years old & Rica Amabis, 40 years old

She is chef at Clandestino, in São Paulo; he composer. They’ve been together for two years.

Did the conquest take place through the stomach?

BEL No! He said he didn’t care for food when we first met. It was my biggest disappointment. I replied: “Imagine if I said that I don’t like music?”

RICH But now it’s changed, I’m more demanding. Sometimes I even order specific dishes for her.

How to keep the flame burning with a baby at home (Francisco, the couple’s son, was born on April 1)?

BEL We went out a lot, just the two of us, before Francisco. Since then, we’ve only done it on a Friday, the eve of my birthday. We’ll pick up when he gets a little older. I think it’s important.

When one is bitter, what does the other do to sweeten it?

BEL Talking always helps. And sex, right?

What spices up the relationship?

RICH Francisco’s nap.

BEL The postpartum period is more complicated. Patience and wine are welcome.

Morena Leite, 33 years old & Caio Monteiro da Silva, 51 years old

She is a chef at Capim Santo, in São Paulo; he publicist. They’ve been together for seven years.

What keeps the flame burning?

CAIO Even after so much time together, every day there is something new to discover about each other. I believe more in this thing of details, of tuning into small gestures, than in grandiose actions.

Has the mixture ever nearly run out?

BRUNETTE With six months of marriage, we even separated on paper and everything. But after three months, we got back together.

CAIO Do you believe we haven’t gotten married again on paper until today?

Did the conquest take place through the stomach?

BRUNETTE No, in the beginning, we got each other wrong in the kitchen. I made a prawn risotto with banana and found out that he hates sweet and sour recipes when I see him leaving the fruit aside on the plate.

CAIO And I made a raw tuna. She ate it and only later told me that she doesn’t like fish like that, raw.