"Flesh"

From A. Carter's "The Love of Lady Purple" :

"Flesh was the specialty of every house and it came piping hot, served up with all the garnishes imaginable." (45)

This sentence is so powerful to me & really stands out from what's around it–what's more, it seems to imply that these prostitutes are something you'd eat at a barbeque–'served with all the garnishes imaginable' at peak temperature (45). The word choice of 'flesh' also implies a stripped-down, naked/raw sense to it–these women/dolls are more than just sexual servants.

The word "garnishments" seems very interesting to me. The "piping hot" flesh is served with these garnishments–what could these garnishments be exactly? Does this imply a sexual eroticism? Sex toys or other fetish type of ideas?

Again, this quote objectifies not only Lady Purple, but it compares her to a rich, sinfully decadent dish. I find irony in this quote because so many things in both life and literature label food and hunger as the enemy–if women succumb to it they will become fat, ugly, monstrosities. But in this quote, they themselves have become the food for which others hunger. Is this empowering in some twisted way? By succumbing to their hunger for them, are men transformed into monstrosities?