Recipes, Apothecaries, Wellness and everything in between Blog Post #2

by Correa-Maynard 1 Comment

In part one of Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo, the story is broken up by recipes to fix various different ailments and afflictions. Immediately, upon reading this I was reminded of a similar form of narration expressed in Laura Esquivel’s book-turned-movie, “Como Agua Para Chocolate” which translates to “Like Water for Chocolate”. 

The narrative in “Como Agua Para Chocolate” follows the story of Tita, the youngest daughter of three, who is forbidden to marry until her mother’s death, but has a mutual longing for her childhood love, Pedro. Tita turns to cooking as her primary skill of controlling the emotions within the household that she shares with her mother and two older sisters. I’ve included the movie clip from one of the most famous scenes where Tita makes quail dipped into a rose petal sauce and serves it to everyone in her family, including Pedro. Through her recipe, she seduces everyone and transforms them into incredibly sensual beings. 

Nevertheless, these recipes both highlight the intimacy of family recipes that involve the supernatural with the ordinary parts of life. So often are these recipes dismissed as fictitious or fraudulent, but how different are they from any apothecary that passed through certain cultures that supposedly rectify “problems”- whether it be joints, headaches, love, pregnancy etc? 

It’s important to note that a lot of these recipes are nowadays stripped and exploited to make a profit for commercial businesses to promote wellness. Consider, for example, that Goop, Gwenyth Paltrow’s $250 million dollar wellness company, sells jade eggs that supposedly “increase sexual energy and pleasure…for optimal self-love and well being” for $66 dollars. (I have included a link to an article about Goop’s contribution to the wellness movement. I strongly recommend that people read it). Not only have many of her products been proven false and even dangerous by many members of the medical community, it also grossly misrepresents and even appropriates practices that are integral to indigenous communities and communities of color, where recipes and medicines are inherited and passed down through generations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/magazine/big-business-gwyneth-paltrow-wellness.html

Comment ( 1 )

  1. Kim Hall
    Back in the day, I used to teach *Like Water for Chocolate* along with Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo*, so this juxtaposition really speaks to me. I wonder if you can be more specific about who dismisses the ideas of these recipes (So often are these recipes dismissed as fictitious or fraudulent) and if we can return to the book to think about the novel frames these spell/charms/recipes. LW4C sees a magic in food and I believe all of its recipes are actually of foods. How is SC&I different?

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