Like Water For Chocolate Research Paper

Laura Esquivel the author of Like Water for Chocolate was born in Mexico, September 30, 1950. She has written plays, movies and two other novels The Law of Love and Between the Fires. Esquivel parodies the magazines of the time directed at women in her novel, and takes it further with characters like Tita and Mama Elena. ("Like Water for Chocolate"). Esquivel explores the ability of cooking and foods to transform people in a story that is intimately connected to the traditional position to which women have been relegated in Mexico and to the technique of magical realism in Latin American writing. ("Like Water for Chocolate").

Like Water for Chocolate takes place during the Mexican Revolution, although it is not the main focus of the book, it is a pivotal moment in Mexican history. The Mexican Revolution started 1910 and lasted until

Three products constitute the heart of most Mexican dishes: corn, hot peppers (chiles), and beans. ("Like Water for Chocolate"). Much of the sophistication of Mexican cuisine comes from the use of more than one hundred different types of chiles, which range from the large and "sweet" chile ancho to the small and extremely hot chile habanero. (“Like Water for Chocolate”). In Like Water for Chocolate, the reader sees Tita express herself through the food, and essentially lives through it. That is the culture, food is not just food, it has a deeper meaning. The cooking is methodical, and important, almost an art form. It is beauty, emotion, celebration, etc. In September people commemorate independence and, in central Mexico, eat a sophisticated dish called chile en nogada, a stuffed chile poblano dressed with a white walnut sauce, red pomegranate, and green parsley, in a representation of the Mexican flag. (“Like Water for Chocolate”). In the novel the reader sees Tita make a very similar dish but in the month of December for her niece, Esperanza’s,