Like Water For Chocolate by: Laura Esquivel

Delicious! And if I could, I would surely love to lick the cover of this book … but alas, I am still gripped by fear at the repercussions of licking not book covers but plates. Yes, years in a Scottish boarding school getting locked in freezing cold vestibules by scary matrons in the name of discipline will do that to you! Memories light the corners of my mind, misty water color memories of the way we were. Ahem. On to a more uplifting subject…like…Like water For Chocolate. This is a lovely story. A fast read, delightful from start to finish. Esquivel knits her story together with traditional Mexican recipes in which food and emotions are in sync at all times. She lights up her novel with the descriptions of farm life, outhouses, ranches, natural remedies, mysticism. Life at the turn of the 20th century. Yet this turn takes place in Mexico.

The story begins with the birth of Tita, and it is her tears that we soak up throughout her life. Tita is the last born daughter to Mama Elena De La Garza and, so obliging tradition, she is destined to look after her mother until death. This was probably a great idea in theory, but practice proved much harder especially when she fell in love. Mama Elena, a hard handed woman not willing to yield to tradition or give up her rightful possession, would not agree to the proposal made by Tita’s love, Pedro. Instead she suggested he marry Tita’s older sister, Rosaura. Pedro agreed as he saw this as an opportunity to be near Tita at all times regardless of the circumstances.

Throughout Tita’s life journey, situations and feelings are mirrored in the recipes she prepares. Each chapter begins with a recipe that seems to have a direct relationship with the movements and sentiments evoked at the time of cooking, making Like Water For Chocolate beautifully rich in symbolism, not to mention mouth watering. Hell, as a resident of LA where Mexican food is available around every corner, after reading some of the recipes, I somehow felt that Chimichangas were no longer the real deal. I long to taste quail cooked with rose petals!

We follow Tita and Pedro, two lives forever linked by love. Yet timing and tradition make it always challenging. Their love is preserved through the revolution, the birth of Pedro and Rosaura’s children, the death of Mama Elena, Tita’s engagement to a doctor and eventually the death of Rosaura. And it is Pedro and Rosaura’s daughter Esperanza - ironically this translates as Hope - that tells this tale. Although Tita did not acquire what was rightfully hers until the end, she did manage to break the bounds of tradition so that her niece, Esperanza, would not suffer the same fate as her.

It is disturbing to think that such demands were and are made on women in the name of tradition and also a little curious not to mention hypocritical to discover a dark secret in the closet of the person implementing those traditions. Tita’s mother had a dark secret that was not revealed until her death - as did my devoutly religious Irish grandmother. My grandmother who would not tell her neighbors that my uncle had divorced and found a wonderful new wife, whom incidentally he has been with for 30 years! My mother and father in turn felt the need to lie to my Grandmother regarding the conception of my brother, for fear that she would realize that they had sex before they married. According to her, my brother was premature although he had a head the size of a football. Yet it was that same grandmother who, we discovered upon her death, had conceived my father, out of wedlock!! Yet she too was brought up with traditions and that good ol’ ingredient.. fear…So what should we expect? How do we change the plight of “The Second Sex” ? Well, Tita is a great example of endurance against oppression, remaining so very feminine and successful in her role as woman.

Tita and Pedro’s love compares to The Forbidden Fruit. Although it is not clear just what that Forbidden Fruit is … pomegranite, fig, citroen, wheat maybe even animal flesh, the most popular icon of course, has been the apple. The apple is a metaphor for something untouchable and sinful therefore it perfectly represents the temptations that fire up the pages in “Like Water For Chocolate” and the fear that surrounds the potential bite of this apple. Yet once bitten it is sweet, juicy and pure. Not to mention, good for your figure and health. Apples keep Doctors away you know. Esquivel has written a very enjoyable novel, so bright and imaginative which lets you escape into the world of fantasy for a while and leaves you with a smile.

Click here for recipe

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