"Like Water for Chocolate" is the story of forbidden love between Tita and
Pedro. Mama Elena knows the score and makes sure Pedro and Tita are never alone anywhere on the ranch. Tita is forced to stay in the kitchen and prepare the family's meals.
In Mexico, so I have learned, hot chocolate is made with water, not milk. The water is brought to a boil and then the chocolate is spooned into it. A person in a state of sexual excitement is said to be "like water for chocolate." And now here in the story where everyone seems at the boil, their lives centering around a woman whose sensual life is carried out in the kitchen, and whose food is so magical it can inspire people to laugh, or cry, or run naked from the house to be scooped up and carried away by a passing revolutionary.
Esquivel begins each chapter of the novel with a different recipe. The various recipes evoke memories of different events in Tita's life. Certain dishes are prepared at certain times of the year or for special occasions. In the words and ingredients of the recipes themselves lie the formula to produce a particular dish. Whether it is dinner rolls, wedding cake or sausages, the dish's sole being relies on the recipes. In a sense, the recipe is the first step in a chain reaction to triggering a memory. After the food is produced, it has a texture, smell, shape, taste and color unlike the others. These elements arouse the senses, which can trigger emotions. As mentioned above, with the creation of food a center is created. The center is the substructure which other elements are built. Esquivel associates certain dishes to love, lust, sickness, pregnancy, motherhood, and the supernatural. Whoever controls the food, appears also to control all those elements mentioned above, and in the novel this person is Tita. She is seen as the strong woman in the family.
If a recipe were available, open for anyone to read and follow, why would it be described as a crypt? This is precisely where the secret lies. Because one follows the recipe doesn't guarantee that the dish is created in the way it is intended to be. A dish prepared by two different people doesn't necessarily taste the same. Esquivel seems to believe that recipes also consist of what could be described as "hidden ingredients." These ingredients could consist of love, patience, sorrow or, perhaps, a respect for tradition. Encrypted into the recipes, these ingredients only come out after the food is prepared and eaten.
Nancha and Tita respect this complexity and have a deep understanding of food. The two women have a relationship with food that the other characters in the novel are unfamiliar with. A good example of a character, who is unfamiliar with food preparation is Rosaura, which is expressed in the episode where she attempts to cook for the family. She follows the same recipes that Tita does; however everything tastes awful.
Because of Tita's understanding of food, she acquires a certain position in her household and that is the center. She prepares the food they eat that sustains their survival. In some aspects she provides life. With this position she is linked to everyone else's lives. Although she never has children of her own, she becomes more of a mother to Rosaura's children than Rosaura is. She is Pedro's lover. These relationships are a little bit different than what we might think of as normal relationships. The most abnormal being the relationship Tita shares with her mother. They are related by blood, but that is where the family ties end. Her mother is jealous of Tita and Pedro's love, not because it is wrong, but because it was something that she once had. She won't allow Tita to be happy, prohibiting her from having the life that she wants and in order to do so, she forces a ridiculous tradition upon her. Tita is not allowed ever to marry because as the youngest, she has to take care of her mother until her mother dies. Even after Mama Elena's death, her ghost haunts Tita. The memory of her mother is so embedded within her subconscious she is unable to get rid of her contempt for her.
"I know who I am! I am a person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases. Once and for all, leave me alone; I won't put up with you! I hate you! I hate you, I've always hated you!" Tita had said the magic words that would make Mama Elena disappear forever. The imposing figure of her mother began to shrink until it became no more than a tiny light. As the ghost faded away, a sense of relief grew inside Tita's body. ( Esquivel, 199) With these words, the life that Tita had been born to live had been dramatically altered forever. Now she could experience freedom.
Tita's new destiny entitled her to the man that she loved, Pedro. Tita and Pedro, although much aged, are able to express their love for one another. Unfortunately Pedro dies while they are making love. Tita is horrified until she remembers the story told to her, by the doctor, which had been passed to him from his grandmother. Following the old story words Tita could reach "tunnel" and sow Pedro waiting for her. They left together for the lost Eden. Never again would they be apart!!!
In this novel, the person placed in the center of the home is a woman, which is very rare in Latin American literature. The novel is centered on the lives of women and rarely focuses on men. Esquivel uses the reversal of gender roles to the story's advantage because it is fresh and different. Magical realism is the final touch that gives the novel an aspect of comfort, which makes it all the more enjoyable. I highly recommend this book to my friends and fellow readers. It would make a good gift, though I am not sure men would enjoy the story as much as women would. Yes, I know there is a movie out there with the same title, but I urge you to read the book. Enjoy!!!