This has indeed been present in human consciousness for a long time. The Aztecs were using chocolate as an aphrodisiac in the 1400s, and Shakespeare made perhaps the most famous literary comparison in 1602 when he wrote, "If music be the food of love, play on."

Of course, why certain foodstuffs have been linked to sex changes depending on the culture viewing them, but some things have remained the same. A 1943 movie featuring Carmen Miranda contained some rather bizarre sexualisation of bananas as phallic objects, but even before that, a 1931 song by Bo Carter was already using the fruit as a sexual metaphor.

Humans are psychologically programmed to recognise patterns in things, so the reason why foodstuffs have become associated with sex and emotion is more to do with our neurochemistry than history. If the colour red, for external reasons, becomes associated with love, and personal 'sweetness' is an attractive quality in a partner, then it stands to reason that sweet red fruits like cherries and strawberries will seem romantic.