I saw a print ad on the side of a taxi for barbecued pork. It featured Sharon Au saying that the meat was "titillating". I nearly choked. That's because I had always associated titillating with stimulating interest in the erotic sense. I thought a better word in this case would be tantalizing. So I did some research.
Turns out titillating is an adjective that means pleasantly stimulating or exciting. Yes, it does have connotations of erotism but that's a secondary meaning. It primarily means being able to arouse someone to mild excitement. Therefore, it's all right to say that good food titillates the senses.
Tantalizing (or tantalising if you use British spelling) is an adjective which means possessing a quality that arouses or stimulates desire or interest. For example:
The tantalising details of the iPad rumours fuel the imaginations of Apple fans.
The origins of tantalize are in Greek mythology where Tantalus stole ambrosia and nectar from the gods (plus he practised cannibalism and other atrocities). As his punishment, he was made to stand in a pool of water in Hades over which the branches of a fruit tree hung. Whenever he tried to reach up for the fruit, the branches would bend out of this reach. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded from him so he could not get any. From his sorry tale, we now take his name to refer to food that is desirable.
