Como Agua Para Chocolate

This novel was, by far, my favorite of the readings we have done so far in the class. I assume it is because I am biased to the Mexican culture (because that is the culture I am most knowledgeable of outside the United States), and because I agree with Esquivel's critiques of the American culture.  The three critiques that I found most applicable were the critiques of passion, tradition, and food.  All three share connections to one another in the Mexican culture, but in the American culture they sometimes don't exist or connect.

The first critique, passion, is the most obvious. Tita and Pedro shared this deep passion for each other, unlike most.  Esquivel uses magical realism to show just how deep their passions were from one another.  She describes it as, 'they are both explosions waiting to happen'.  Inside they share this fire for one another and if a match is lit, the explosion will happen.  She makes the connection, also, that they are 'como agua para chocolate' because their passion for each other is like the process of making chocolate.  They keep boiling and boiling, but they get pulled off the stove before they boil over (Mama Elena pulling them away from each other).  Esquivel is critiquing that it is important to feel this type of passion, and that one is not living their life unless they allow themselves to 'boil over'. In the American culture, much like the Spanish culture, we are often times refined.  Especially in the time when this novel took place, American's would have found this type of behavior outrageous and unacceptable.  Still today, we don't allow ourselves to be extremely passionate for other people for various reasons such as distractions, self-image, or unawareness due to an outside source.

Which brings me to the critique of tradition.  In the United States, every family follows different traditions because we are a country founded on different ethnicity's and religions. Again, during this time period though, the majority of the North American belief system, stemmed from the Puritans.  The puritans did believe in following traditions because they followed traditions themselves.  Yet, somehow as American's, when we watch Tita be abused by Mama Elena over an over again, we want her to revolt! I read this and asked, why doesn't she just leave? We see the character Gertrudis revolt, and we as American's, like it! Esquivel wants her audience to know that it is an option to revolt, but that is not what the Mexican culture and tradition is really about.  The tradition has been passed on for years, it is something that many of the family member's felt it was necessary because they respect their ancestors and want to continue doing the work of those ancestors.

Esquivel's critique of food is my last and final interest to the novel.  Each chapter begins with a recipe to wrap in the emotions that go into the preparation of the food and the meaning behind the recipe.  Each entree takes hours of preparation and ties into the plot of that chapter.  My favorite chapter was the rose petal quail dish.  The rose petals came from Pedro, for Tita, because it was the only safe way he could share his appreciation of her.  Tita makes the dish having more feelings and thoughts for Pedro. When the dish is eaten, it causes Gerturdis to have a fiery reaction because of the emotions added to the dish. I found this as a critique now in the twenty-first century America, because there are never thoughts or passions in preparation to the food we eat.  The food we eat today is usually prepared as fast as possible because of our busy schedules.  I found this most interesting because until I read this I never thought twice about how often I ate something because it fit with my schedule.  There is hardly ever meaning or thought into the dishes we eat, which may be why there are so many health issues and obesity in the United States.

In the Mexican culture, passions, traditions, and food all tie together as well.  There is a 'passion' put into the 'food' and prepared due to 'traditions'.  It makes me wonder when these three things ever tied together to me or any United States citizen I know. I have a greater respect for my Mexican friends because I now understand their heritage and individual make up.  I have a friend who I worked with at Carrabba's Italian Grill, he was a cook.  I remember walking into work and him having prepared his famous corn chowder. He would sit, make me finish the last bite, and tell me he prepared it all day just for me! I would always laugh and tell him he didn't. But, after reading the novel and learning more about the culture, I believe he was true, and really put all his passion and traditions into his corn chowder!