Magical Food

Humans consume all types of food that vary from meat to veggies. What could be a delicacy for a group of people can be a taboo for other groups. America is a very diverse country. New York is as diverse. But why exactly do people eat the things they do? Is it because of taste, custom, and/or tradition, or perhaps a certain connection a group or person may feel for that specific food item? In the books Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquirel and in The Odyssey by Homer, food contains a lot of power, in other words, magic.

In Like Water for Chocolate the main character Tita is the one who prepares most of the meals. While preparing most of the meals for her family, Tita thinks a lot about her life. She thinks about the happy moments she experienced with Nacha in the Kitchen, and the even bad moments, like when she had to give up her love Pedro to her Sister Rosaura. Everything she feels and thinks is incorporated into her meals. The frustration and anger she feels intertwines with the very meals she is fixing up.

While Tita and Nacha are preparing the Wedding Cake for her sister and the love of her life, Tita cries. Her tears fall into the Wedding cake batter. Nacha tells her to stop, or she will ruin the cake. Nacha tastes the batter to make sure it’s okay. Tita’s tears didn’t ruin the taste of the batter. Later on, everyone is enjoying the Wedding cake that was prepared, but a few minutes later everyone was feeling sick and started to throw up. This is where the magic kicks in. Tita’s pain was expressed by her tears, which were mixed with the batter. When everyone ate the cake they felt sick, and they felt pain. This is just how Tita feels seeing her sister and Pedro get married. Her tears transpired sadness and hurt in others who tasted the very tears of her sorrow.

Just like in Like Water for Chocolate, in The Odyssey there is magic realism.
Odysseus is traveling with his men in the Sea. The winds are so powerful that they drag them places they do not expect to arrive. They arrive in the city of Ismarus, where they get carried away with greed and do not want to leave, until the Cicones attack them. Odysseus and most of his men escape. Because of Odysseus and his men’s greed, Zeus sends a storm that sends them to the land of the Lotus-eaters. There they are offered fruit that makes them forget everything. This is where magic realism is incorporated in the story.

Sometimes there are people who wish others could understand how they feel as in the case of Tita. She has to see someone she loves spend the rest of their life with her very own sibling. She without a doubt would have not mind eating the fruit Odysseus and his men ate. Being human comes down to two things, being prepared or not being prepared. Tita wasn’t prepared to see the love of her life move on with her very own sister, but who would? She wouldn’t hesitate to forget and move on. Magic realism is something many people wished was real, but there isn’t.