Sunday, December 12, 2010

Capítulo 12: December/ Deciembre

This months recipe is Chiles in Walnut Sauce, and it is being made for another wedding.  Yes a wedding!  This confused me at first; I was like, who's getting married?!?  And then I figured out that it was Esperanza and Alex's wedding (Pedro and Rosaura's daughter and John's son).  So, Esperanza didn't have the sad fate of being forced not to marry... because Rosaura died.  Kind of sad, yes, but happy that Esperanza was free to live her life and marry Alex.  It was killing me to know whether or not Tita married John, or stayed in her affair with Pedro.  Well...she didn't marry John.  And her, Pedro and Rosaura had decided upon an arrangement that they could all live together in relative peace.  And they all lived that way until the day Rosaura died.  As you can remember what Tita's cooking did to the guests at Pedro and Rosaura's wedding, her food did get a reaction from the guests at this wedding.  Not quite the same reaction though.  This reaction was much more sensual...all the guests suddenly had a strong desire to be 'intimate' with their partners.  So, everyone left the party...hastily...to carry out their 'business'.  This of course left Tita and Pedro alone for the evening.  John had sadly left the wedding alone, knowing that he was still not the one Tita would choose to be with.  With Esperanza grown, married and out of the house; and Rosaura gone as well; Tita and Pedro were free to express their love for one another without shame or fear of getting caught.  The ending scene in this book is quite powerful, and full of magic realism.  At the end of their intimate night, Tita finds Pedro dead on top of her; he died of extreme emotions and love for Tita-he couldn't handle it.  Knowing that Tita will never be happy again, she remembers something that John had said to her long ago about the flame that each person holds inside of them.  If a person's flame were to become too strong or bright, if all their candles were 'lit' at once, they would die.  So, Tita begins eating matches, one by one, and when they are all gone, she clings to Pedro and thinks of all the wonderful moments she had shared with him.  As Tita is remembering, hers and Pedro's bodies catch flame.  Then the bed is engulfed in flame, and then the room, and then the entire ranch is consumed in a massive fire that can be seen for miles.  Tita dies in an embrace with Pedro.  But they are now together in peace.

Capítulo 11: November/ Noviembre

This chapter kind of leaves the reader on edge.  We don't really know how the book is going to turn out, and we don't really know who Tita will ultimately choose in the end: John or Pedro?  John is back and has brought his elderly aunt to meet Tita and to attend their wedding.  Tita is busy in the kitchen as usual, trying to make the perfect meal for John's aunt.  The recipe for this chapter is Beans with Chili Tezcucana-style.  While Tita takes some lunch up to Pedro's room (he has healed nicely by the way, due to the special care Tita has taken with him), she confesses to him that she is not pregnant.  Pedro acts as you would expect him to... like a big baby.  He had thought that for sure Tita would finally be his now that she was pregnant with his child.  He was being selfish as usual.  Tita leaves him to check on the dinner.  She finds that the tamales for the meal aren't cooking.  And then she remembers something Nacha once said to her, that if the tamales aren't cooking because you are sad or quareling, you must sing to them.  So Tita tries to remember her happiest moment...and you can only guess what that happy moment is for Tita...her intimate encounters with Pedro.  All the way back to when they first met and expressed their love for one another.  This is how I know that deep down, Tita has always loved Pedro.  I think that she did love John, but just not in the same way that she loves Pedro.  The meal is finally cooked and served.  During dinner, John knows something is not right with Tita, so he asks her if she's alright.  They excuse themselves from the table and Tita explains to him why she cannot marry him.  She says that she had not been faithful while he was away, and he tells her that it doesn't matter to him and he wants to spend his life with her; if she'll still have him.  She then tells him that she isn't sure whether she loves him or the other man more.  And this is what John says, "If your answer is yes, we will celebrate our wedding in a few days.  If it's no, I will be the first to congratulate Pedro and ask him to give you the respect you deserve".  So John had known the whole time that Tita loved Pedro.  My thing is, if John really wanted to have Tita for his own, why not fight for her a little more forcefully?!  And then, the chapter just ends!... leaves us hanging dry.  Stay tuned for what happens next!  Or... just don't read the last post and read the book for yourself; so I don't ruin the ending for you.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Capítulo 10: October/ Octubre

Well... get ready for a bumpy ride, because alot goes down in this chapter.  The next day, while making Gertrudis' favorite dish, Cream Fritters (which is this month's recipe), Tita summons the courage to tell her secret.  It just so happens that right after Tita tells Gertrudis her 'problem', Pedro walks into the kitchen and hears Gertrudis loudly proclaim that Tita needs to tell him her news.  As you can probably guess, Pedro is extatic about the news.  This gives him even more sway in convincing Tita she can no longer marry John.  And now Tita herself is convinced that she will not be able to marry John.  This kind of makes me mad.  Part of me wants her to stay with John, because he's been so kind and noble to her.  But then there is also a part of me that is glad she's happy in love with Pedro, however bad the timing their affair is.  But for the most part, I'm mad at Pedro.  He knew how Tita felt about him, and even though Tita was taking the high road and rightfully staying out of his and Rosaura's marriage, Pedro kept egging her on and then finally he surprise love-attacked her!  Two pretty awesome things happen at the end of this chapter, both great examples of Magic Realism.  First, Tita runs to her room to escape the busy nightly happenings of the night (now that the entire rebellion is at the ranch, it's very crowded and hectic).  All of a sudden an extremely drunk Pedro starts singing love songs to Tita outside her window.  This brings about the ghost of Mama Elena!  Mama goes into this huge speech about how Tita is indecent and that the baby inside her is destined to be cursed, and how Tita has ruined the family name forever.  Tita delivers a great line here, after taking a brutal verbal assault from her mother..."I know who I am!  A person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases.  Once and for all, leave me alone; I won't put up with you!  I hate you, I've always hated you!"  And with those last words the figure of Mama Elena began to shrink, until it was a tiny light.  As Mama Elena was shrinking, a huge sense of relief grew inside of Tita.  Then, all of a sudden she released a violent menstrual flow (that's magic realism for ya).  She hadn't been pregnant all along!  The act of her finally standing up to her mother had released all the tension from her body.  Let's not forget about that little ball of light that Mama Elena had turned into...all of a sudden that ball of light shoots out of Tita's window and hits Pedro as he is still singing outside.  His whole body bursts into flames as Mama Elena gets her last bit of revenge on Tita.  Pedro is now badly burned and is calling for Tita to remain at his side.  Rosaura hears this and finally realizes what has been growing between Tita and Pedro.  I think she just hadn't let herself believe it before, even though she had initially known of their love for eachother.  Tita takes up the role of Pedro's constant care provider, diligently helping him with home remedies for his burns.  She never leaves his side.  And what could happen next you ask?  Well... John comes home.  And, poor John, as soon as he and Tita embrace, he knows that something has changed in Tita.  Little does he know!!

Capítulo 9: September/ Septiembre

So, I guess I have to kind of give away the 'steamy scene' from the last chapter, between Pedro and Tita.  There is a big question hanging in Tita's mind throughout this chapter, a question that is giving her lots and lots of stress.  Can you guess it?... Well, she thinks she's pregnant.  I know I know... Come on Tita!  So, add this to her growing doubts about marrying John.  The recipe for this chapter is Chocolate y Rosca de Reyes; or Chocolate and Three King's Day Bread.  Making, and eating, the Three King's Day Bread had been a tradition on the ranch for Tita and her sisters.  Gertrudis (the sister who made her romantic and sensual getaway in Ch. 3) came back to the ranch with the militia.  Oh yeah, by the way, Gertrudis is a general for the rebellion now.. crazy huh?  Anyway... Tita finally feels there is someone in the house with whom she can confide her news with.  That day, while Tita was in the kitchen preparing the King's Day Bread, the ghost of Mama Elena came to her and tells Tita how worthless and indecent she is for her relations with Pedro.  Mama Elena even goes so far as to curse the unborn baby that Tita is carrying.  The ghost disappears with the entrance of Chencha into the kitchen.  That night at the party, Tita is preocuppied with thinking of the baby and also thinking of how she will tell Gertrudis about it the next day...

Capítulo 8: August/ Agosto

This chapter is what I like to call the "Oh no she didn't!!" chapter.  You can only imagine what this chapter has in store for Tita... DRAMA.  It starts off fairly happy.  Pedro and Rosaura have a new little baby girl named Esperanza, and John and Tita throw a dinner party at the ranch in order for John to ask Pedro (since Pedro is the man of the house) for Tita's hand in marriage.  Not wanting to cause a scene, Pedro of course says yes.  Everything is fine and dandy... that is until John leaves on a long trip to the United States to bring his aunt to the ranch for the wedding.  For Tita, this meant staying at the ranch longer... with Pedro nearby.  This was not good for her willpower.  There is alot of sexual tension between Pedro and Tita throughout this chapter.  Pedro showcases his annoying persistent behavior toward Tita by telling her she must refuse to marry John; because she should be with him instead.  Tita delivers some of the best lines toward Pedro in this chapter..."I entreat you, never bother me again for the rest of my life, and don't ever dare to repeat what you've just said to me, my sister might hear it and we don't need one more unhappy person in this house.  Excuse me!...Ah, and let me suggest, next time you fall in love, don't be such a coward!"  Love that line.  You see, I do think that Tita's true and oldest love is Pedro... but seriously... Pedro is such a pansy!  He should have fought for Tita when he had the chance.  As not to give everything away, but I will say that at the end of the chapter Tita does have a steamy encounter with you know who... while her fiance is away.  A nice little bit of magic realism shows up at the end of the chapter, during the steamy scene, the image of the "ghost" of Mama Elena appears as a storm.  Chencha and Rosaura see it, and don't know how to explain it... just that it is her sould dead and walking about.

Capítulo 7: July/ Julio

This chapter focuses on the return of Tita!  After her long period of silence, Tita was 'brought back to life with some homeade Ox-Tail soup from her home.  A few key things happen in this chapter, Tita started talking again.  John asks for Tita's hand in marriage, and Tita accepts.  The ranch back home is attacked by a group of bandits and Mama Elena, while trying to defend herself and the workers, becomes a paraplegic due to being hit in the spine.  All of this culminates in Tita returning to the ranch to care for Mama Elena.  This does not help their relationship; not one bit.  Tita is brought back into her old ways of cooking and taking care of her mother.  However this time, Mama Elena wants nothing to do with her daughter who has changed so much with  her new found independence.  Mama Elena refuses Tita's cooking and subsecuently (with a little help from some emetics she had been taking every night), Mama Elena dies in her bed at the end of the chapter.  After her mother's death, Tita uncovers a dark secret of Mama Elena's past.  This secret, which I won't give away, makes almost everything Mama Elena does throughout the novella very hypocritical.  The reader can easily pick up on the pent up feelings that Mama Elena herself carries around in her life.  If Mama Elena has been un-happy her whole life, why would she force the same love-less future on her own daughter?  For me, Mama Elena is an interesting character to study.  Not to say that I like her at all... because I don't; I think she's awful to Tita.  I would hate to have her as a mother.  But what I am saying is that maybe Mama Elena has her own reasons as to why she is the way she is.  It makes me feel sorry for her.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Capítulo 6: June/junio

This chapter was very fun to read.  Very sweet.  Tita is recooperating at Dr. Brown's house in the village, and he is the best caretaker Tita could have asked for.  He gives her her space and allows her to be her own person as well.  Since her breakdown episode, Tita has taken an oath of silence.  She had many things to sort out in her mind about her life: about Mama Elena, Pedro, her sisters, and now Dr. Brown.  This chapter is fun, because you start to see a change in Tita.  She's feeling grateful to finally be away from her mother, and to start becoming her own person again.  She still is holding on to her vow of silence, but she has a independent breakthrough at the end of the chapter.  All this while, Dr. Brown has been talking and teaching Tita about his love for medicine, and how he uses a mixture of science and ancient techniques to try and discover cures for illnesses.  Dr. Brown gives Tita a rag soaked in phosphorous, and tells her that if she writes her thoughts on the wall with the phosphorous, no one would be able to see it, because it is an invisible ink.  Tita thinks that this is a way to express her feelings in a way where she is getting them off her chest, but still technically keeping them to herself, because the ink is invisible.  What Dr. Brown fails to tell her is that the ink becomes visible in the dark.  So he asks Tita, "why won't you talk?" and he gives her the night to ponder over her answer.  Late that night, after Tita had gone to bed, Dr. Brown goes to see what she had written, and she had written simply, "Because I don't want to". 
I really like that she said that, she is acting according to her own will and ability now.  She is excercising her own control by not speaking.  She has been controlled for so many years in her life, and now she is has control over something.  It's probably a verly liberating feeling for her.  Let's see what the next chapter has in store for Tita.

Capítulo 5: May/mayo

This chapter is all around depressing... be forwarned.  First of all, Pedro, Rosaura and Roberto have moved away to San Antonio... thanks to Mama Elena.  Then, some soldiers from the malitia come to raid Mama Elena's home and they are dumbfounded at how stubborn and bull-headed Mama Elena is, and they leave their home only doing very minimal amount of dammage.  Now that everyone Tita has loved have been taken away from her, she is forced to 'whole-heartedly' serve her mother in her every whim.  One of Tita's duties is very thoroughly described in this chapter.  The ritual of bathing Mama Elena.  That's right... BATHING her mother.  Even though her mother is fully capable of bathing herself, she delegates this task to Tita, her 'until she dies' care-giver.  I won't go into full detail about this process, but it is a very long, drawn out and over the top process.  This just goes to show how much control Mama Elena has over Tita.  Tita has no life of her own, because she is forced to answer to everything Mama Elena wishes, and is not given the chance to live her own life. 
News comes to the family of Roberto's death in San Antonio.  Because Tita was the only one able to feed him, he was not getting the nutrition he needed away from her...so he died.  This sent Tita into a emotional frenzy; and rightly so.  She stands up to Mama Elena and blames her for the death of her grandson.  Mama Elena, being the loving woman she is, hits Tita hard enough to break her nose.  Tita runs out of the house and seeks solace in their pigeon coup above the barn. 
I forgot to mention the introduction of a new character.  And this is a good character.  His name is Dr. John Brown, and he was the doctor that came to the house to care for Rosaura after Roberto was born.  Well, he took a liking to Tita.  And when he was called to the house to retrieve Tita from the pigeon coup and send her to an 'insane asylum', he was excited to be of service.  When he went up into the coup, he saw Tita at her worst state... she had literally lost it and was in no way fit to care for herself.  Instead of locking her away in an institute, like Mama Elena wanted, Dr. Brown brought her to his own home to care for her.  This is where the story starts to pick up a little for Tita.
I was so excited after I read this chapter.  After all that has happened to Tita, she finally gets to get away from Mama Elena!  Sure it took a beating from her own mother, the death of her nephew, a broken nose and a mental melt down in a pigeon coup to bring this all together, but it happened!  I'm excited to read on and discover what the future holds for Tita... and this handsome Dr. Brown.

Capítulo 4: April/abril

This chapter is actually pretty happy, for once (for the most part).  Rosaura and Pedro are expecting their first child, and for months during the pregnancy, Tita has harbored feelings of resentment to Pedro and believes he had lied in the first place when he told her he loved her.  The time comes for Rosaura to deliver the baby, but everyone in the family has left for town to get preparations for the baby.  This leaves Tita alone with Rosaura as she goes into labor... to make a long story short, Tita is forced to deliver the baby, Roberto, alone.  Due to complications from the labor, Rosaura is left unable to feed Roberto, she is produce any breast milk.  One day, while trying to comfort Robert while he was hungry and crying, Tita discovers that she has begun to produce breast milk and she is able to feed Roberto herself.  This becomes an unexplained secret between her and Pedro, no one knows how Roberto is being fed, all they know is he is being fed and Tita is the one somehow feeding him. 
This chapter also centers around preparations for Roberto's baptismal ceremony.  Tita is working to make a meal of Turkey mole with almonds and sesame seeds.  Tita's mole that she made, gave all the guests who ate it a sense of euphoria and hope...all except for Mama Elena.  Mama Elena was so focused on revealing the secret 'love language' between Tita and Pedro, that she did not eat any of the mole, and she was concocting a plan to separate the two of them. 
Nothing seems to be going right for Tita.  She loves Pedro, but is unable to express her love for him, nor can he for her.  She is under the constant control and suspicious gaze of Mama Elena. 
I was actually able to make the recipe for this chapter!  I made a couple modifications to it, however.  I used chicken instead of turke :)  It was delicious and was very easy to make!  I will post a picture of it on the blog with this post. 

Capitulo 3: March/marzo

This chapter is full of magical passion.  ¡El capítulo del amor!  In a kind gesture to try and cheer Tita up, Pedro brought her a bouquet of pink roses.  This gesture was completely disapproved by Mama Elena, and Tita was ordered to get rid of them.  Tita could not bare to part with the roses from Pedro, so she decided to use them in a recipe.  This brings us to March's recipe, quail in rose petal sauce.  -on a side note, I do not think I could EVER attempt this recipe on my own!  Maybe one of these days I'll find a "easy" version of the recipe online; one that does not involve killing, plucking and gutting a quail :)
Tita incorporates the rose petals into this elaborate dish.  Another strong example of magic realism occurs when the family is eating the quail in rose sauce for dinner that evening.  As soon as Pedro tastes the meal, he feels a strong sensual sensation towards Tita and claims that she has prepared a meal fit for the gods.  For Tita's second sister, Gertrudis, an incredibly strong, sensual feeling came over her.  She began sweating and felt her body yearn for love.  It was as if the meal was a sexual awakening for her; she rushed from the room, to the outside porch to compose herself.  She began to feel very uneasy and was sweating.  Her sweat was pink and smelled strongly of roses from the food.  Her scent was so overwhelming that it traveled miles away and attracted the interest of a general in the army from town.  He travels the distance to Tita's home to discover the source of the scent.  I will not give away everything that happens in this chapter, but Gertrudis and the general are carried away by the love spell from Tita's recipe.  And Tita and Pedro discover they have a new way in which to communicate to one another- through Tita's cooking.  The overwhelming and unexplainable feelings of sensuality that Tita's cooking provoked is a prime example of the magic realism that Laura Esquivel creates throughout this story. 

Capitulo 2: February/febrero

This chapter focuses on the marriage of Pedro and Rosaura.  A wedding should be a happy occasion, but for Tita, it is a very sorrowful event.  Her life's only love marrying her sister.  Too make matters worse, Mama Elena very forcefuly demands that Tita feign happiness for her sister and she was also given the large task of preparing the wedding cake with Nacha as a punishment (for trying to play hookie during the wedding).  The recipe for this chapter is a Chabela wedding cake, and it sounds really good!  ¡Delicioso!  (Hopefully here in a little bit I can muster up the courage to try making this cake on my own!!) 
The wedding comes and goes, but Tita is given a new found hope for her love when Pedro confronts her after the ceremony..."Estoy seguro de que así será, pues logré con esta boda lo que tanto anhelaba: estar cerca de usted, la mujer que verdaderamente amo...".  Pedro confesses that the 'only' reason he is marrying Rosaura is so he can be close to Tita, his true love, since he is not permitted to marry Tita.
Magic Realism plays a strong role throughout the entire novella.  Magic realism is a style/genre of fiction in which magical elements are mixed into a relistic setting in order to access a deeper understanding of that reality.  This chapter has a great example of magic realism; while Tita is beating the eggs for the wedding cake, she has a fit of crying in which her tears are mixed into the cake batter.  After the ceremony, while the cake is being eaten by the guests, a strange thing happens.  An intoxicating feeling of nostalgia and longings for their lost loves...followed by a mass fit of vomitting.  The only one not affected by the strange power of the cake was Tita, of course.  This further complicates things for Tita and the ever present Mama Elena.  We shall see if there are any more plots to keep Tita and Pedro apart throughout the book, due to Mama Elena's suspicions of their love.
Not only has Pedro married another, but on the evening of the wedding, Nacha passed away in her sleep.  We learned a little more about Nacha and her past in this chapter.  I won't give away everything that occurs throughout the novella; leaving some things to be discovered for when you read the book on your own.  But this was a very depressing end to this chapter.  Tita has lost the only mother figure she has ever known, and her only true friend. 

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Capitulo 1- Enero/January

In this first chapter of Como Agua Para Chocolate, we are introduced to the main characters of this novela.  The heroine is Tita.  Mamá Elena is her tyrant mother, but she is not really a mother figure in this story, that role falls to Nacha.  Nacha is very much like an abuela, or grandmother, to Tita.  From the moment Tita was born, she shared a special connection with Nacha and with cooking in the kitchen.  It was up to Tita and Nacha to prepare the family's meals and their main place was in the kitchen.
One very important thing that is introduced in this frist chapter is Tita's other duty in life- to take care of Mamá Elena, until the day she dies.  "Sabes muy bien que por ser la más chica de las mujeres a ti te corresponde cuidarme hasta el día de mi muerte"-dice Mamá Elena.  Tita is the youngest of three daughters.  Her two sisters, Rosaura and Gertrudis are free to marry whomever they choose.
Besides food, Tita has one other love in her life, Pedro Muzquiz.  Her spirit is crushed by her mother when she is told that she may never marry him, because she must constantly take care of Mamá Elena until she dies.  To make matters worse, in only a short amount of time, Tita discovers that her sister Rosaura is to marry Pedro!  ¡Que horrible! Tita feels like an empty shell, but at least she still has her cooking with Nacha to lift her spirits. 
Readers, this was a great start to this novella.  Whether you are reading it in English or in Spanish, the use of words and descriptions draw you in and give you a strong connection with Tita.  Tita is a ver strong young woman who is battling against loyalties to her mother and these new emotions that are arrising up in her that she is forced to suppress. 
Not only is this novella very interesting so far, but each chapter has a recipe that Tita focuses on throughout the duration of the chapter.  The first recipe is one for Christmas Rolls.  When I see Christmas Rolls, I think of cinnamony, sugary, doughy and yummy rolls, like Cinnamon Rolls.  But no... these Christmas Rolls consist of sardines, sausage, onions and chiles serranos.  Sardines?!  Really?!  ¡Esto está loco!  I plan on "attempting" some of the recipes that are in this novella... we shall see how that goes for me, considering I am NOT a good or experienced cook.
Bueno... eso es todo para ahora. 
 ¡Muchas Gracias!  Thanks for reading!
Laura

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What am I doing with a blog?!

Hello all!
This is my first attempt at a blog...so brace yourselves...this could get ugly.  First a little bit about me; I am currently working on finishing a Bachelor's in Spanish at Southern Nazarene University.  I have just one semester left, and my wonderful Spanish professor, Dr. Johnson, and I were trying to come up with some different ideas for some spanish credits.  We came up with this idea...I must read the novela por Laura Esquives "Como Agua Para Chocolate" en espanol, but oh no, that's not all I must do, I am to cook and blog my way through this novela as well.
If you know nothing of this wonderful book (yes folk, it does have an English version as well!), you should google it right now and check it out!  This little novela is written in monthly installments of recipes and is full of romance and drama.  And for all you non-readers out there, don't worry, it was made into a movie!
So for this "blog", I will be submitting bilingual blogs about my time spent reading and cooking throughout this semester's course.
-Laura