Today we will read the text Cocinar con amigos, which will help you learn different vocabulary related to cooking. As we all know, reading a text in Spanish is a great way to improve your language skills. It can help you develop your vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension skills. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner, reading in Spanish is an effective and enjoyable way to enhance your language learning journey.

Reading Text: Cocinar con amigos

Read the gramar and vocabulary notes before going directly to the reading text. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Grammar and vocabulary notes

Cocinar con amigos (Cooking with friends) is about a group of friends that are preparing dinner together. We will learn several cooking verbs in Spanish, but before let’s pay attention to general vocabulary related to cooking. The noun comida has three main meanings in Spanish. It could be food, lunch or any meal. Let’s see the names of the meals.

  • el desayuno (breakfast)
  • el almuerzo (mid-morning snack)
  • la comida (lunch)
  • la merienda (afternoon snack)
  • la cena (dinner, meal at night)

In Spain, each meal has typically three filling courses, including a starter, a main plate, and either dessert or coffee. It could also be two main courses, that is a first course, a second course and a dessert.

  • el entrante (starter)
  • el plato principal (main course)
  • el primer plato (first course)
  • el segundo plato (second course)
  • el postre (dessert)

Now let’s focus on cooking verbs in Spanish. These verbs refer to the actions or processes involved in preparing and cooking food. These verbs can include a wide range of actions such as chopping, mixing, stirring, frying, grilling, baking, boiling, and many others.

  • cocinar (to cook)
  • hervir (to boil)
  • cortar (to cut)
  • hornear (to bake)
  • picar (to chop)
  • mezclar (to mix)
  • pelar (to peel)
  • asar (to roast)
  • descongelar (to defrost)
  • remover (to stir)
  • guisar (to stew)
  • preparar (to prepare, to cook)
  • rellenar (to fill in)
  • freír (to fry)
  • asar a la parrilla (to grill)
  • rallar (to grate)
  • tostar (to toast)
  • revolver (to scramble)

De to indicate ingredients

Remember you can use the preposition de to indicate the ingredients or composition of something. For example, zumo de manzana (apple juice) or tarta de manzana (apple pie).

Estaba pensando en hacer una tarta de zanahoria.

I was thinking of making a carrot cake.

Quiero enseñarte a cocinar mi famosa tarta de manzana.

I want to teach you to cook my famous apple cake.

A ella no le gustan las naranjas. Toma zumo de manzana por la mañana.

She doesn’t like oranges. She drinks apple juice in the morning.

Ella prepara galletas de chocolate. Está horneándolas.

She makes chocolate cookies. She is baking them.

Yo no quiero postre, pero ella quiere un helado de chocolate, por favor.

I don’t want any dessert, but she wants some chocolate ice cream, please.

Cocinar con amigos

A Alberto le gusta mucho cocinar. Todos los días va al mercado y compra la comida para ese día. Ahora la está cocinando para sus amigos. A uno de ellos, Andrés, le gusta mucho el pastel de chocolate de Alberto. También lo está preparando para él.

Su amigo Daniel compra un queso y va antes para ayudar a preparar la cena. Pela y corta las verduras, las pica y las mezcla para una ensalada. El queso que trae es muy bueno; ahora lo está rallando.

Mara, la amiga uruguaya, quiere asar carne. Alberto piensa que es una idea excelente. Mara compra unos filetes y los está asando.

El marido de Mara, Fabián, está rellenando unos tomates para comer como primer plato.

Cuando acaba la cena, todos están contentos. La comida y la bebida estaba muy rica. Además, estar con los amigos y la charlar es lo mejor.

Exercises

Now that we know more vocabulary related to cooking, let’s do some exercises about the reading text Cocinar con amigos.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

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