Food and sex, sex and food: the inextricable link between the two was fully understood and happily exploited by the millionaire madams of yesterday, profiled in The Bordello Cookbook. They were America's first successful businesswomen, a gutsy band of entrepreneurial pioneers who had the wit to add wickedly delicious food and drink to the 'menu' at their joie de vivre establishments. This cookbook explores the primrose paths leading up to their un-homelike houses -- mostly mansions of unalloyed gaudery and glitz. It looks in on the 'do-gooders' and police. Best of all, it serves up a brand new repertoire of recipes for food with passion -- recipes for today inspired by delicious indulgences of the past. All are handily appropriate to current tastes, trends and technology. Some of the menus and recipes replicate what was served in those luxurious houses, where twenty-four gourmet kitchens were another major attraction. Most are Jeanne Bauer originals, inspired by the flash and flair of the madams and their show-off chefs.

Some are simple, nostalgic dishes from places that were more exuberant than elegant. Others are festive offerings created for life's milestone occasions: holidays, birthdays, weddings and even funerals. After all, the ladies of the evening were touched by milestones too.