Foot and Fire

AS SEVENTH POST FOR THE #foodflixflex which my friends and I will be doing this September to celebrate food and cinema, I present you my Duck in Rose Petal Sauce (turned out to be more like Duck with Macadamia Sauce) which is inspired by Laura Esquivel's magical realism novel and the 1992 movie version of it which was very faithful to the book both entitled, Like water for chocolate. I always have a slip of the tongue when saying the title. I say, Like hot water for chocolate. Maybe because this book is about deep longing, true love, hindered desires. So I imagine that Tita melts like chocolate because Pedro is the hot water.     On the March entry, Tita received a bouquet of roses from Pedro to congratulate her on her first year as ranch cook. The roses which were pink became red when Tita clasped it and her blood mixed in the petals. A chemical reaction began without her knowing. Tita felt she has to do something special abou...

Like water for chocolate Laura Esquivel After reading this magical realism novel, I was not swept away by the plot unlike when I read the same when I was in my teens. All I think about when I read it this time is whether the recipes are indeed for real. After finishing the novel, I was unable to pick out one recipe to try out of the monthly installments. In the end, I did not mind at all. Now that I am into cooking, I most understand why the novel was given the title. To melt a solid chocolate for baking, water is not directly poured over it. Instead, the chocolate is placed on a stainless bowl and placed on top of a boiling water. The steam slowly and steadily melts the chocolate. This is indeed the case when Pedro married a sister of Tita just to be near her. Pedro is the hot water that melted Tita. I have not seen the movie made out of this novel but that must be an interesting watch. But while many see this novel as a a story of lust, I just could not agree ...