Food as a whole, in the context of cooking, acts as a bridge between the characters in the novel and the reader. Similarly, the mouth-watering descriptions of dishes are vivid enough for the reader not only to visualise them but to imagine the smells and textures and temperatures. This sense of magic surrounding the food in the novel quite literally brings the kitchen to life, adding an intimate and cosy quality to the novel. Indeed, her feelings when she cooks seem to magically transfer to the people who consume the food she cooks for example, those who eat the pastel chabela she cries into whilst beating the eggs are overcome with nostalgia and sadness. Furthermore, the kitchen plays a significant role in acting as a kind of safe space for Tita, and the meals she cooks affect the events of the novel.
The plot revolves around the concepts of food and cooking each chapter begins with a recipe for a certain Mexican dish. What seems to distinguish Como agua para chocolate from other romance novels is the sense of warmth and homeliness running through the entirety of the book.
But what makes this take on the classic topos of forbidden love so unique? Why has it sold close to a million copies in Hispanic countries and been translated into numerous languages? It would seem that such a familiar plot and recognisable themes might make for something predictable, tedious and unsuccessful, yet Como agua para chocolate was the number one bestseller in Mexico for more than two years. Laetitia Hosie, Lower Sixth pupil at Westminster School (London)Ĭomo agua para chocolate, the 1989 novel by Mexican author Laura Esquivel, tells the story of Tita, the youngest daughter of the De La Garza family, who is forced by tradition to remain single in order to look after her mother, whilst her lover Pedro marries her older sister, Rosaura.
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