Como Agua Para Chocolate is the original title of the novel written by Laura Esquirel. The title itself conveys a Mexican expression that refers to an exceedingly agitated person; this includes individuals who are in the state of sexual arousal. On the contrary, the title literally refers to the process of making hot chocolate as how Esquirel describes it in Chapter 9 (p.178) and is not emphasized in the film adaptation.
The story takes place in the early 1900’s when the Mexican war is raging that’s when Elena gave birth to her third daughter, Tita. Although, once she was born her father died of shock, upon learning that Gertrudis that is supposedly their second daughter may not be his daughter after all. With the death of her spouse, Elena became a widow at a considerably young age leaving the ranch and her daughters in her care. Elena highly values the moral and dignity as well as the running tradition of her family, that Tita being the youngest daughter should never marry instead she will take care of Elena for the rest of her life. This contradicts the love that’s about to bloom between Pedro and her youngest daughter, who at that time thinks of asking the hand of her child for marriage. When the day that Pedro told her that he wants Tita to be his bride, she declines instead she offers the hand of her oldest daughter, Rosaura in place of Tita. The story goes on as Tita comes to face ordeal like death of Nacha her wet nurse, struggling to stay at the ranch while seeing the love of her life as the husband of her sister, the misery that her mother gives her constantly throughout her stay at the ranch, and the death of Roberto the first born of Pedro and Rosaura that leads to her break down only to be saved by Dr. John Brown.
To cut the chase, Esquirel describe Tita and her hardship in the title itself. Tita is “like water for chocolate”, both literally and figuratively. On p. 151 of the book it states that, “Tita was literally “like water for chocolate”—she was on the verge of boiling over”.
Figuratively, for Tita is too frantic and too frustrated on the things that she asserts. She is too frantic to sleep all through the night instead she just turned herself into knitting such extensive blanket. She is too frustrated; too sexually frustrated which can be seen when prepares the mole and cooked quails in rose sauce that invades the system of not only Pedro but as well as Elena, Rosaura and Gertrudis, whom is lucky enough to synthesize the sexual encounter throughout the meal.
The “like water for chocolate” is Tita, so as Tita is “like water for chocolates”. This title or this Mexican expression simply denotes the life of the heroine, her struggles and her overwhelming passion towards cooking and the never-ending, us against the world scenario of the love she had for Pedro.
