debate (pruebe cuánto puede entender por usted mismo.)

• Do you live to eat or eat to live?
• Do you think eating is one of the sublime pleasures of life?
• What is, in your opinion, the most sublime pleasure?
• Where would you place ‘eating’ in your list of priorities?

Tasks for reading

Say True or False(Indique si estas aseveraciones son verdaderas o falsas según el texto que se da a continuación.)

__ The writer compares the pleasure of eating to that of having sex.

__ A gourmet is an expert in food and drinks.

__ The writer thinks that shrimp goes well with red wine.

__ He believes that fish can be a good choice for the main course.

__ The sole is a kind of fish.

__ The writer doesn’t like éclairs.

En el siguiente texto hay algunas palabras cuyo significado usted puede inferir por el contexto en que son utilizadas. Marque la opción que mejor expresa el significado de las mismas en el texto que se ofrece. (Todas las definiciones que se dan aparecen en el diccionario).

• rich
• having much money or property
• luxurious, costly, splendid
• containing too much fat, oil, spices, etc.
• fresh
• cool, refreshing
• not salted, canned or frozen
• still wet, not yet dry
• palate
• roof of the mouth
• sense of taste

• ripe
• ready to be used or eaten, fully developed
• past in the stage of youth, of advanced years
• ready, fit, prepared for development
• delicate
• that requires very careful handling
• having a pleasing taste and not strongly flavoured

Eating

Eating can be a tremendous pleasure, more so if you are already an old man – as myself – and don’t think (can’t think!) much about sex anymore. But life is not over for you. Good food can be as good as sex… well, maybe not quite so.

Anyway, a gourmet – someone who enjoys and is expert in the choice of delicate food, wines, etc. – knows how to select carefully the different dishes in a meal to give immense pleasure to his demanding palate.

The perfect starter could be a shrimp cocktail with the best choice of wine – probably a rosé to go with the shrimp-. He would then choose something wholesome for the main course, perhaps a broiled tenderloin steak or a steamed fillet of fish – maybe sole or salmon. He would never have something too rich, such as fried pork or lamb stew. He would most probably accompany his main course with steamed or raw vegetables, say, asparagus, or the traditional ripe tomatoes. Then for dessert, another delicacy: a chocolate éclair or some vanilla ice cream with wild hazelnut liqueur on top.

Wow! This is making my mouth water, so I’ll go grab a bite.