Review: Like Water for Chocolate

     Let me start this off by saying that I first came to know about this lovely book Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel via the movie adaptation. I remember watching and thoroughly enjoying the Like Water for Chocolate film immensely in my teenage years, even though I had only seen it a couple times. I remembered the strong imagery each scene of the movie showed and finding myself drawn further and further in by each moment until I had to know everything about the lives of each of these thoughtful characters. It was a few years after my first time watching Like Water for Chocolate that I found out that the movie I had loved so much was a book. Still, I made no real effort to find the book and simply delighted in the viewing of the movie instead. Now having read the book I have to say that I was remiss in not reading this book sooner. Like Water for Chocolate was originally written in Spanish under the name Como Aqua Para Chocolate and released in 1989. I am currently reading it in Spanish as well in hopes of improving my understanding of this beautiful story and my overall understanding of the Spanish language.With that said, let us dive into my thoughts on Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.

     Like Water for Chocolate is a novel, but it’s quite different from any other novels I have read in my many years of reading.  What I mean is this novel is a deep and passionate story of love and life told from beginning to end in the monthly installments of a cookbook. Quite unique. Like life this love story is not a quick tale, though it reads as though it is a quick whirlwind of fantasy. Years pass and yet they are documented in single recipes, presented once a month. Hinting at the passage of time with single sentences in the midst before continually flowing forward. I find that to be the most fascinating part of this story. Each recipe can be followed to make a real dish so it can be used as a cookbook or for the few home remedies it contains, as well as it can be read for the story alone. It isn’t only love, just like life this story holds a bit of sensual romance while meeting it with just as much pain, but unexpectedly it also holds magic both fantastical and the kind of magic that only love shows to those that feel it. It is the story of how unexpected life’s journey can be.

     Like Water for Chocolate is the entrancing story of Laura Esquivel’s Great Aunt Tita De la Garza who was living on the De la Garza ranch in Mexico at the turn of the twentieth century. The story starts in January presenting the recipe for Christmas Rolls.  Each ingredient laid out with correct measurements as with any cookbook and on the next page it starts with the title indication the steps needed to prepare this dish, but that is where the similarity to any normal cookbook ends. The author dives into a suggestion for what to do when you are chopping onions and do not want to cry.  The author takes a moment to seemingly wonder if you, the reader has ever experienced uncontrollable crying when cutting an onion. Before providing us with a small comparison the author’s mother had been known to make between the author and her great aunt Tita’s sensitivity to onions. Tita is the youngest, third daughter of Mama Elena and the focus of Like Water for Chocolate and it’s her sensitivity to chopped onions that brings her into the world; thus, kicking off our tale. Prematurely and crying loudly amongst the smells, sounds and ingredients in the kitchen.  Bound to live a life of turmoil, finding solace and herself in the kitchen.

     Like Water for Chocolate serves to provide more than a simple snapshot of a people long gone and nearly forgotten. It opens the kitchen of the De la Garza Ranch and thereby opening a family’s entire world through the eyes of one woman. Traditions are laid bare on the page each one tying you closer to Tita and Mexico. Each chapter, each recipe is written out like it were a conversation carried out in the kitchen. Reminiscent of time spent cooking with my own mother while hearing old stories passed down from generation to generation, a key to understanding my own life. There is no way to deny this story is about Tita, her life and love, in Mexico, however, it doesn’t exclude anyone who isn’t Tita or someone of Mexican decent. It’s a story that could exist in anyone’s life, but it is the food that makes the story whole, and it is the food that holds Tita’s memory. These recipes hold the memories of Mama Elena, Rosaura, Gertrudis, Nacha, Chencha, Juan, Alex, Esperanza, and most importantly Pedro and Tita! Laura Esquivel uses this book as an opportunity to open Tita and her family’s history on these pages making them real and human. Like Water for Chocolate is beautiful in it’s versality and fairytale quality.

     I think it is safe to say that for me Like Water for Chocolate was a perfect read. It was enjoyable and easy to read, but also informative of a time and place that I hadn’t explored as fully. While it was short and fast moving, I found it to be immersive and powerful in tone. I enjoy fantasy and while this book does not have much it does contain a bit of magic. If magic isn’t your cup of tea, I would not tell you to avoid this book as it contains an almost realistic amount of magic and it is used to convey a depth of emotion which I found enjoyable. If you were to use this as a cookbook, I think it would be viable, the conversational story tone does not interrupt the ability to find directions. Though, I would imagine that it would be very time consuming to prepare them in the traditional way the book explains, it would be extremely delicious and transport you to Tita’s kitchen. In the end I have nothing bad to say about Like Water for Chocolate and I implore you to read it for yourself!

"A la mesa y a la cama
Una sola vez se llama" Laura Esquivel

"To the table or to bed
You must come when you are bid." Laura Esquivel

      THANK YOU for taking the time to read this review. I know that it has been a while since I have done a review, so I am grateful to anyone who still takes the time to read the things I write. I do this because I find it fun, and I want to give people the opportunity to find a new book that they may love just as much as I loved it. If you have any suggestions on what you may like me to read next don’t be afraid to comment. If I have said anything offensive or incorrect in this blog, please let me know. I do not wish to offend or hurt anyone. I enjoyed this book and would be extremely disheartened to find that I have said anything that does not display my enjoyment and love of Like Water for Chocolate or any other books I have reviewed up until now.