[?] you ever [?] (have) a mammoth steak? Presumably you [?] -after all, the big woolies [?] (go) extinct so long ago that it [?] (become) rather difficult to get fresh mammoth meat. But what about unleavened cakes from wild einkorn wheat, or stew from wild carrots? Neither? Well then, [?] you at least [?] (try) raw steak from an Iberian fighting bull, the closest thing to the extinct aurochs, ancestor of all European domestic bovines? Grilled jerboa, ptarmigan, or cattail root?

What those strange foods have in common is that they [?] (be) available to people 50,000 years ago, in the paleolithic. What they also have in common is that they are firm favourites with a nutritional movement that [?] (emerge) in the late 1980s and has been growing since: the Paleos.
Paleos think that we should go back to eating the way our ancestors [?] (do) before we [?] (invent) agriculture, or at least industrialised agriculture. After all we never [?] (evolve) to eat hamburgers and chips, and fizzy drinks [?] (not be around) for long, either. Some Paleos even reject cooked food and have their organic steaks raw -fire is a technology that we [?] (not have) half a million years ago. Our diet back then [?] (be) high in protein, rather low in carbohydrates, and free from artificial additives or household sugar. Paleos sweeten their herbal teas with unprocessed honey and have nuts or seeds instead of crisps, dried fruit instead of chocolate or winegums. They are convinced that eating the way they do prevents obesity, heart disease and other health problems. Scientific studies [?] (prove) that they are essentially right. Also, they simply like their diet: while chocolate might well be a hard loss to pack, organic meat simply tastes better.
Recently, the movement [?] (grow) quite considerably. What [?] (be, habitual) a tiny fringe movement [?] (turn) mainstream, or close to it. There are hundreds of thousands of Paleos in the USA, and more in other parts of the world. Also, Paleos [?] (establish) their own restaurants in many big cities. Just a few months ago, one of those [?] (open) its doors in downtown Berlin -the first of its kind in Europe. Those restaurants, however, have to strike a compromise: food regulations prohibit raw steaks, and curious restaurant clients, other than dyed-in-the-wool paleos, tend to appreciate a good wine or a glass of beer with their Paleo-dinner. Also, microwave ovens and steel knives are just too good to be discarded for the sake of authenticity. Some Paleo-restaurants are cave-themed, others look just like modern ones. Boris Leite-Poço, one of the founders of the Berlin site, the Sauvage [?] (say) that since going Paleo two years ago, he [?] (enjoy) a medication-free existence, greater energy levels, increased muscle mass, clearer skin and a higher sex drive. He [?] (go on) to say that Paleo was the next big thing: "Right now the trend is probably strongest in the United States, where people who [?] (have enough of) the fast food way of life and generations of illness [?] (take it up), but it's coming to Europe with force now."

So, what about you? [?] (this, spark) your interest? Would you like to try a really old-style dinner? For now, it seems like it's only a question of time until the first Paleo-restaurant opens in Madrid or Barcelona.