Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate (Spanish title: Como Agua Para Chocolate) is a 1989 Mexican novel by Laura Esquivel. It chronicles the story of Tita (full name: Josefita De La Garza), a fifteen year-old growing up during the Mexican Revolution with her mother, Mama Elena, her older sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura, the cook Nacha and maid Chencha on a ranch in Piedras Negras, a town near the Mexico – U.S. border. Tita has a love of the kitchen and a deep connection with food, a skill enhanced by the fact that she was practically raised from birth by the cook. Her love for cooking also comes from the fact that she was actually born in the kitchen. Pedro, a ranch hand, and Tita fall in Love At First Sight. He asks Mama Elena for Tita’s hand in marriage, but Mama Elena forbids it, citing the De la Garza family tradition which demands that the youngest daughter (in this case Tita) must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until her mother's death.

Like Water for Chocolate is broken into twelve chapters, monthly installments, each containing a Mexican recipe important to the story at hand. The novel uses Magic Realism to mix the ordinary with the supernatural.

The book was later adapted into a film, released in 1992, which became the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the United States at the time.


 * Abusive Parent: Is it possible to have ANY sympathy for Mama Elena?
 * Break the Cutie: Tita. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, family burdens, broken heart, loss of loved ones and finally a total breakdown.
 * Butt Monkey: Rosaura.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: Pedro.
 * Contemplating Your Hands: Tita does this for a short while
 * Disappeared Dad: Tita, Gertrudis, & Rosaura's father. He died of a heart attack a day after Tita's birth.
 * Deus Exit Machina:
 * Death by Despair:  She was always upset because of the loss of the man she loved, but after tasting cake accidentally mixed with Tita's tears, she crosses the Despair Event Horizon and dies of a broken heart.
 * Despair Event Horizon: Tita was sad enough after  at Mama Elena's request. However, it's receiving news that   that pushes her over the edge and makes her snap.
 * Does Not Like Soft-Boiled Eggs: Mama Elena tries to have Tita eat these, which usually fails until she gives Tita a smack across the face to loosen her throat. Tita, in fact, will eat just about anything except soft-boiled eggs.
 * The Dutiful Son: A gender-flipped example. De La Garza family tradition is that the youngest daughter is forbidden from getting married, having to care for her mother until her death. Tita must act as this for Mama Elena.
 * Evil Matriarch: Mama Elena.
 * Food Porn
 * Freud Was Right: Tita has a flashback while she's holding a sausage.
 * G-Rated Sex:  initially have sex   Averted later on with Juan and Gertrudis,   who have sex for real.
 * The book also chronicles how, with occurrences like Pedro seeing Tita cooking in an erotic posture to
 * Generational Trauma: Shows how Mama Elena's abuse passes to her children and grandchildren. Her baggage is she wasn't allowed to be with the man she loved because he was a "Moor" and lower-class; she married a man who would financially provide for her but died of shock when he heard rumors about the affair, and that daughter Gertrudis may not be his. A single parent and stigmatized, Elena took out her rage on the only person that she could: her youngest daughter Tita, who per tradition would take care of Elena for the latter's days rather than get married. She forbids Tita from marrying her love Pedro, persuading Pedro to marry her eldest daughter Rosaura instead, and proceeded to berate Tita for protesting this decision for years on end. While Rosaura agrees this is unfair, and she and Tita call a truce later in life after Elena dies, she's shocked when.
 * The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Tita and Rosaura. Tita and Gertrudis, however, are on better terms.
 * Green-Eyed Monster: What Tita realizes Pedro becomes after he forces her to cheat on Dr. Brown.
 * I Have No Son: Mama Elena's mentality after Gertrudis runs away.
 * Jerkass: Pedro comes off as this for many readers. Sure, he makes both Rosaura and Tita's lives extremely complicated (and destroys their already shaky sisterly bonds) with, but even after he does so, he  ? Come ON, Pedro.
 * Rosaura, too. But see Unintentionally Sympathetic.
 * Mama Elena, FULL STOP
 * Killed Off for Real: First, then much later  , followed by  , and finally   at the end.
 * Let's Wait a While: On the first night of  Pedro delays an uncomfortable marriage obligation with an excuse.
 * Lethal Chef: Rosaura, in sharp contrast to Tita. When Rosaura tries to cook a family dinner, nobody likes her food. It doesn't help that she wouldn't even take Tita's advice.
 * Love At First Sight: Tita and Pedro, as well as and with Juan and Gertrudis... kinda.
 * Not So Different: Tita and Nacha, and even Tita and Mama Elena.
 * Out with a Bang:
 * Parental Hypocrisy: Mama Elena  Not that Elena actually cares for Tita's welfare.
 * Pragmatic Adaptation: One scene in which was not included in the film. Another scene in the book in which   was not included, either.
 * Rape as Drama:
 * Adaptation Distillation: The film version passes over
 * Romantic Runner-Up:
 * Rule of Symbolism: Very present, sometimes going hand-in-hand with the Magic Realism in the story. The various recipes in the story are usually some kind of symbol as well.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: Tita and Pedro. Curse you tradition!
 * Supreme Chef: Nacha and Tita.
 * Title Drop
 * Trippy Finale Syndrome: The last three pages of the novel can be summarized as
 * Troubled Fetal Position: When Dr. Brown goes up in the ranch's dovecove and finds a naked Tita, who has crossed the Despair Event Horizon, she does this in a corner, while crying.
 * Unusual Euphemism: And I quote:  When you think about it, this is actually somewhat justified because Tita probably isn't all that familiar with   so it makes sense that she might use a comparable mundane object that might show up in cooking instead.
 * What the Hell, Hero?:  Pedro does not seem to catch on until 20 years later.
 * Vomit Chain Reaction: Every single person (save Tita) at, after eating the cake with her tears mixed in. Special mention goes to Rosaura, who is covered in vomit despite her attempts to evade it and
 * Vomit Discretion Shot: Unlike the sea of vomit described in the book, no one is shown actually vomiting on-screen in the film.
 * You Monster!: Not a literal example, but close enough to count. After Tita receives news of  she tells Mama Elena   In a way, she just might be right, because   at a time where
 * You Monster!: Not a literal example, but close enough to count. After Tita receives news of  she tells Mama Elena   In a way, she just might be right, because   at a time where