Of Love and Recipes: A Book Review on Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate
By Zatia Denise Danao Gammad
IV-Madame Marie Curie
“That afternoon, when the uproar had subsided and the water had been dried up by the sun, Nacha swept up the residue the tears had left on the red stone floor. There was enough salt to fill a ten pound sack—it was used for cooking and lasted a long time.”
Nothing is more exquisitely indulgent than culinary twists in the greatest gamble man can ever participate in. No creative literary touch can ever defeat the unique mix of emotional flavors in a cauldron of tradition, sorrows, remedies, and even prestidigitation. If one is the typical person who would pig out depression or delight, then divert to this 1989 Mexican adult fairy tale. Truly a mouthful for a title, Like Water For Chocolate – originally published as Como Agua Para Chocolate – is a compelling combination of novel and cookbook written by Laura Valdes Esquivel. The book has been a tremendous international success, being the number one best-selling book in Mexico United States , Like Water for Chocolate became one of the largest grossing foreign films ever released. Esquivel earned the Mexican Academy
Of Spanish heritage, Esquivel made an international entrance with Mexican culture laced around magical realism. It is a monthly installment of memories, each started off a traditional recipe. As the procedure is narrated, the suppressed emotions of Josefita “Tita” De La Garza, the main character, are gastronomically approached, thus, whipping up the story of a young lady having the kitchen as her domain. It is undeniably ethereal and sensual.
The novel takes place during the Mexican Revolution at the ranch near the Mexican-US border. As soon as she is brought to this world, Tita’s life becomes uneasy, as complemented by the great tide of tears that floods the kitchen floor. Unable to produce milk because of her husband’s shocking death, Mama Elena, Tita’s tyrannical widowed mother built on repression and bitterness, hands her premature daughter to Nacha, the ranch cook who from then on takes care of Tita. In spite of learning from Nacha the world according to food, Tita is having the greatest woes at an early age of fifteen. She is a very passionate girl who longs for the love of Pedro Muzquiz. But because of family tradition – that the youngest daughter in the family must dedicate her life in taking care of her aging mother – she is not allowed to be married, a command her mother firmly emphasized. Instead of her, Mama Elena insisted Rosaura, Tita’s older sister, for Pedro. He agrees to marry her for the purpose of being near Tita, which she is not yet aware of. Therefore, she takes revenge in which she allows her passions to surface through her cooking. Every person who comes in contact with the food she prepares experiences the sentiments an unjust society has buried deep inside her.
Each chapter starts with a recipe that relates to an episode in Tita’s life. In between the procedures to make Christmas Rolls, Chabela Wedding Cake, Quail in Rose Petal Sauce, Turkey Mole with Almond and Sesame Seeds, Northern-style Chorizo, and the rest, the narrator, Esperanza Muzquiz-Brown, tells us the misfortunes of Tita’s life, how those foods become the natural outcome of her emotions, and how it affects the society in a very strange and magical manner. For instance, the wedding reception of Rosaura and Pedro turns out to be a disaster. The guests wallow and mourn as they taste the Chabella Wedding Cake Tita had baked containing her tears, and they all feel an immense longing on their lost loves, except her. Also, when Tita makes Quails in Rose Petals after Pedro gives her a bouquet of roses in her first year anniversary as the ranch’s head cook. It serves as an aphrosidiac for Gertrudis, her eldest sister. Then, she begins to have lustful endeavors and goes away with Juan Alejandro, a soldier from the army.
It is a gripping tale of emotional suppression, self growth, and tradition. Basically, this novel deals with the shift from a traditional to a modern society and women’s liberation from the oppressive judgment of the society and the traditions that degrade them as well. At the beginning of the novel, Tita was a generally submissive young lady, humbly bowing to any of Mama Elena’s command. As the novel progresses, Tita learns to disobey the injustice of her mother and gradually becomes more and more adept at expressing her inner fire through various means. At first, cooking was her only outlet, but through self discovery, she learned to verbalize and actualize her feelings, and stand up to her despotic mother.
The author simply placed a signature that pioneered the world of culinary literature. Her writing style outshines every book placed beside hers. She formats her potentially weighty subjects, such as Mexican tradition, in a light-hearted manner that infuses humor and grief in every page. Simmered in a magical realism genre, the novel shows that Esquivel managed to alter her writing from sweet giggles to bitter acceptance with occasional surrealistic fantasy sequences interspersed between the commonplace goings. Thus, it accumulates persuasiveness and logic under an enchanting narration. Though fictional happenings are read, it extends to history and society, especially women who represent a distinct version of femininity. It is incidentally much more than hyperbole.
The way each chapter is introduced with a recipe containing both literal and figurative ingredients made this book irresistible. Each ingredient has its history and symbolism that are only understood when the food is finally cooked. It correlates to what is currently happening to Tita and the feelings she is undergoing. As a result, many of the characters complained about physical ailments, in which the metaphors of illnesses are impressive. The physical ailments represent emotional turbulence. They are either exceedingly humorous or grotesquely repulsive. For instance, there came a point in the novel in which Tita and Mama Elena’s relationship was almost completely abolished. Mama Elena could no longer eat Tita’s food because she believed that the food tasted as though it has been poisoned. She refused to eat and began to lose weight. The phenomena of food tasting like poison can be approached from the viewpoints of each of the women. From Tita’s point of view, it can be seen as if Tita placed poison in the food, not physically, but emotionally. Out of her sheer hatred for her mother, she was unable to cook for her out of the goodness of her heart, which resulted in the production of a poison-like flavor. On the other hand, it can also be seen that Mama Elena tasted the bitterness in the food due to her own emotions. Mama Elena was unable to expel her feelings of jealousy and loathing for Tita. This is the reason for the bitterness in the food. Mama Elena’s bitterness towards Tita led her to taste poison in everything she eats. Although she finally consented to let Tita prepare her meals, she secretly expelled the food from her body with syrup of ipecac, and eventually, died from vomiting.
For a passionate cook such as myself, to transmute feelings into cooking provides an enthralling feast for the senses and the soul. It is flawless for there is no novel and cookbook better than what Esquivel started. From the moment I received a copy of this book, I easily experienced what Tita had undergone. I know how it is to have cooking as an outlet of emotions, though not as distressed as hers. If one is a keen observer and has a vast knowledge of culinary procedures, he can see that every ingredient complements the other to be able to tell as story, from its presentation, to the fragrance, to the mouth-watering taste. Although contrary to her maternal relationship, it constantly reminds me of how my mother taught me the secrets behind great cooking. That no sweat and torn apron can ever express hard work if one cannot passionately start the fire.
With its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit, Like Water For Chocolate earned her a title of “Princess of Modern Latin Literature.” Esquivel basted a gustatory judgment in mound of suppressed emotions that made her book a best-selling phenomenon. The various recipes that introduce each chapter hide within themselves a story. Behind the story are people, events, and traditions. The recipes are passed through the generations, which is in fact a crypt within a crypt. Each generation adds a new layer through the events experienced in their lives, and each time a relative cooks one of the family recipes, a story is being told, a memory is being recalled. Overall, it is a 241-page cookbook narrated to a thousand-page of stories.
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