Cover A seaside picnic (Photo: Getty Images)
A seaside picnic (Photo: Getty Images)
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From acts of service to words of affirmation, we’ve come up with food-forward date ideas for every love language
The season of love is here, and what better way to celebrate than with grounding a celebratory date night in the most romantic form of psychological categorisation— the five love languages. Theorised in the early 90s, the five love languages are a catalogue of communication styles designed to distil different expressions of love into a straightforward index. With the haste and chaos of Valentine’s Day planning, purpose the love language of you or your partner as the basis of your celebration.
We’ve taken into consideration that every individual aligns with a specific love language, including gourmands. Below is a list of suggestions steeped in thoughtfulness that combine a love of food with bespoke communication styles. From picnics in a park to home-cooked meals, you’ll sort your Valentine’s Day plans out in no time.
Read more: Where to celebrate Valentine’s or Galentine’s Day 2024
Quality Time
Above A picnic basket by a lake (Photo: Getty Images)
Above A couple cooking together (Photo: Getty Images)
A picnic basket by a lake (Photo: Getty Images)
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If, at the end of your day, you look forward to nothing more than catching up with your partner or curling up on the couch together to binge-watch a TV show, your love language is quality time. Plan a date night different to your usual romantic routine. A picnic in a park removed from the city’s sensory overload will ensure great conversation and, you guessed it, quality time. Fill a picnic basket with herbed crackers, a selection of gourmet cheeses, or any bites that would pair well with a view of the sunset. If the outdoors isn’t for you, spend an evening cooking a meal or dish you both love. Try a new recipe together—something time-consuming, elaborate and collaborative that you wouldn’t typically make for dinner.
Acts of Service
Above A meal in the making (Photo: Getty Images)
A meal in the making (Photo: Getty Images)
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Unlike the first love language, this entry negates the suggestion of collaboration. If you convey your appreciation and adoration with acts of service, surprise your significant other with a decadent dinner cooked by you, start to finish. Recreate their favourite home-cooked meal or beloved family recipe. To go the extra mile, try making a plate they consistently order at a frequented restaurant. Top off their surprise by doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen after your meal.
Physical Touch
Above A couple feeding each other cake (Photo: Getty Images)
Above Tinned seafood spread (Photo: Getty Images)
A couple feeding each other cake (Photo: Getty Images)
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Intimacy defines this love language, and nothing is more intimate than feeding each other your favourite foods. This suggestion is bound to generate lots of laughter and devolve into complete silliness, but that’s the point.
Create a spread of the foods you love and spend a date night feeding them to each other. Bites that are easy to pick up work the best. If you’d like to hone in on this entry’s inherent playfulness, incorporate offbeat items you’ve never tried. Tinned seafood, obscure preserves, and unconventional flavour combinations will inevitably make for an amusing night-in.
See also: Fish-tok: The tinned fish trend explored
Words of Affirmation
Above A handwritten note and snacks (Photo: Getty Images)
A handwritten note and snacks (Photo: Getty Images)
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Perhaps the most difficult to tailor to gastronomic interests, this love language requires some extra effort. Consider the foods (preferably packaged) your partner cannot and will not part with. Recall moments your partner has spent with these confections—throwing them into shopping trolleys, pulling them from pantries, or sneaking into the kitchen for a late-night snack—and write each recollection onto Post-It notes.
Form a collection of these treats and plaster each one with your handwritten notes. The more sentimental, the better! Leave them somewhere your significant other is bound to notice them, or place them in a decorative gift box.
Receiving Gifts
Above Montigo’s coffee cups (Photo: Instagram / @shopmontigo)
Above Le Creuset’s oval French oven (Photo: Instagram / @lecreuset_my)
Montigo’s coffee cups (Photo: Instagram / @shopmontigo)
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While this entry is self-explanatory, gifting food-related presents is an art form. Break free from the Valentine’s Day convention of boxed chocolate truffles and gift your significant other an item they’ll use daily. For example, if receiving gifts is how they make sense of romance and coffee is intrinsic to their morning routine, a reusable coffee cup in their favourite colour will not go unappreciated.
If they find solace in the kitchen, intricately designed homewares and cookery will make perfect additions to their epicurean artillery. Build your upcoming date night with gift-giving as its foundation, and make a night of it. You could even make a meal together using your partner’s new kitchen additions.
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About
Chelsea is a Dining Writer for Tatler Malaysia. When she’s not eating or writing about eating, she’s probably deciphering which oat milks froth the best for homemade flat whites.
Work
Chelsea writes about where to find great food and is passionate about exploring the cultural significance of different cuisines.
