The new and acclaimed television adaptation of the 1989 classic Mexican novel Like Water for Chocolate is lush, sensual and an indulgent feast for the senses, in more ways than one. It’s also the first adaption of the beloved novel in more than 30 years, a successor to the iconic 1992 film by Alfonso Arau, and both will be arriving to SBS On Demand this month.
The six-part melodrama, which was recently renewed for a second season, is set in the early 20th century amidst the Mexican revolution, but in the home of our lead Tita De La Garza (Azul Guaita), a different revolution brews.
Born in the family kitchen amidst vegetable scraps and her widowed mother’s grief, Tita’s life is mired with tragedy from her very first breath. The third of three sisters, she is the victim of a cruel family tradition: the youngest daughter must never marry or fall pregnant, and instead must devote her life to being her mother’s caretaker.
However, as Tita grows up, she realises this is not a reality she can stomach. She is in love with her neighbour Pedro (Andrés Baida), and longs for him deeply — so much so that her repressed emotions spill out of her and forge physical manifestations, infusing the food she prepares for her family with the taste of her yearning, suffering, and even lust. Talk about spicy.
Azul Guaita as Tita in Like Water for Chocolate.
As political instability in Mexico grows, so too does the tension in the De La Garza household, blurring the lines between the political and the personal. The Mexican public fights to be freed from its dictator — and so does Tita, in her own way, as she creatively defies her mother’s iron grip, fighting to love freely.
Directed by Julian de Tavira (Red Queen, Hernan), Salma Hayek’s adaptation of Like Water for Chocolate is shot in beautiful, slow-panning long takes with lush imagery, warm lighting and intimate close ups. Its format as a limited series also allows the adaption to be more true to its source material, tackling racial caste issues and the conflicted victim/perpetrator role of older sister Rosaura (Ana Valeria Becerril) with more nuance than the film allows.
Aesthetically, the rich costumes, fine sitting rooms, intimate soirees and delicately framed kisses are reminiscent of Bridgerton, but Like Water For Chocolate brings a depth and darkness to the storyline that the (surprisingly sanitised) Netflix show simply does not. For those that love the visuals of a historic romance but yearn to hurt, this is worth the watch.
Every swooning shot in Like Water for Chocolate is a reminder that no matter how bleak the story gets, that this is a romance — and the survival of the leads’ love is at centre-stage. And of course, so is the food.
In the novel, each chapter is named after a recipe of significance (a cheeky jab at women’s periodicals of the time, where articles were often published alongside recipes and domestic advice). The TV adaptation also nods to this format, with each episode highlighting a dish that we watch Tita assemble with great intimacy and care. Close-ups of eggs slowly being stirred into cream, glossy cinnamon in bubbling sugar, and spilled star anise scattered along a cluttered wooden table feel just as sensual as fingers caressing skin and tongues tracing lips. Food is, in many ways, its own form of love and connection, libidinal in the way it centres on the mouth and tongue. If Tita cannot kiss Pedro, at least her sweet desserts can.
Andrés Baida as Pedro. Credit: HBO
Like Water for Chocolate is named after the Spanish expression meaning one’s emotions are on the verge of boiling over. It is a tale of forbidden and passionate romance, but at the heart of it is an exaltation of the power of women’s emotions, and a recognition of the ways women have defied patriarchy in any means they could — be it on the battlefield or at home in the kitchen.
It’s a beautiful, though at times tragic, tale of one woman’s refusal to give up on the love she yearns for no matter the obstacles, made all the more fantastical through its use of magical realism — a tool commonly employed by Mexican cinema and novels to bring stories to life. Surreal and fantastical events blur the boundaries of reality and fantasy to make the impossible possible. In a world where emotions can magically be transferred through foods, perhaps people can defy dictators, and the happiness of star-crossed lovers isn’t doomed to fail.
All six episodes of Like Water for Chocolate are streaming now at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Like Water for Chocolate
series • romance • Spanish
MA15+
series • romance • Spanish
MA15+
The movie is also streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Like Water for Chocolate
