Like Water For Chocolate: Can People Feel Me Through My Food?

After my long hiatus from blogging, I decided it was time to return! Lots of exciting things to talk about and I sincerely believe that my writing has gotten better since then. Blogging is like talking smack when you grow up in the Bronx (as I did): if you’re not good at it, just don’t waste your time or anyone else’s for that matter.

Unsurprisingly “Como Agua Para Chocolate” (Like Water For Chocolate) is one of my favorite movies. It’s a love story that uses concepts like Magical Realism to convey ideas and richen the plot. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s basically about a girl who grew up in the kitchen and who has a way of making everyone feel what she’s feeling when they eat the food she makes. When she becomes enamored with a young man is when her emotions really start to come out in the food.  If she’s sad and cries into a stew, everyone eating it starts crying. When she’s in love and makes a quail dish with soft rose petals, everyone’s hormones literally go out of control and her sister strips naked and runs away with a cowboy. Yeah, this movie is pretty cool.

As home cooks, we often cook with love, giving a part of ourselves and nourishing those we feed.

If I’m feeling amorous, you better believe my dish will reflect it. I’ll add garlic, creamy butter, lemon, peppers, spices and cook things that are light and sexy like scallops, zesty salads, maybe a juicy cut of steak.

If the weather's been cold and brutal or if the week has been tough and I want to convey comfort and warmth, I'll make a hearty stew with a spicy kick to warm you up and some pillowy sweet cornbread you'll want to melt into.

I can get romantic about food, and when I see someone close their eyes and exhale deeply after taking a bite, I feel a kinship with Tita from the movie… I know they can feel me through my food.