Latest Recipes

Since its appearance in 1989, the novel Like Water for Chocolate became a tribute to the traditional and family Mexican cuisine worldwide. It is difficult to convey the passion for cooking in a simple and intimate way. We are not referring to the feeling that enjoying a good dish awakens in us—that is relatively easy since we are all a bit gluttonous; I am talking about that pleasant sensation that comes to us when we are cooking for someone we care about.

Here, the love for cooking mixes with the love for others. It is something wonderful, and few have achieved it as well as Laura Esquivel in Like Water for Chocolate.

Set in Piedras Negras, Mexico, and with a backdrop of revolution and social conflict, Like Water for Chocolate also uses food as a metaphor for the characters' own feelings. Traditional recipes are a fundamental part of the narrative structure, as each chapter opens with one of them. Reality, magic, and gastronomy go hand in hand in this novel, which was successfully adapted to film by director Alfonso Arau.

Twelve recipes for twelve months and twelve chapters, among which some fantastic dishes stand out and form part of the great Mexican gastronomic tradition.

The first of these is the Christmas Cake (Tortita de Navidad), a January dish, whose main ingredients are chorizo, canned sardines, onion, oregano, serrano chiles, and teleras. Teleras are small sandwich rolls that are stuffed. Hearty and flavorful.

Perhaps one of the most iconic dishes in the book is the Quail in Rose Petals (Codornices con pétalos de rosa), which appears in March. It is a somewhat laborious recipe that requires skill in the kitchen and good raw materials. You would need fresh quails, pepper, salt, garlic and onion, plus, for the garnish, chestnuts, plums, and (crucially) 10 edible roses from which only the petals are used. Visually, it is a spectacular dish: the color of the roses contrasts with the roasted quail in a very interesting composition.

In August, the book gives us Champandongo, a traditional dish like few others. A sauté is made with pork, walnuts, almonds, onion, jitomate, and acitrón. Cream, cheese, mole—the variety is up to the cook—cumin, and chicken broth are also added. It is assembled with corn tortillas and ends up looking like a kind of meat pie. For those unfamiliar with the word jitomate, it is the way red tomato is called in much of Mexico.

Finally, I would like to highlight a dessert that appears in the chapter dedicated to October: Cream Fritters (Torrejas de natas). Especially recommended for those with a sweet tooth, this dessert is prepared with eggs, cinnamon, syrup (almíbar), and liquid cream. The yolks are beaten with the cream and left over low heat until they set. They are coated with the beaten egg whites and fried. As a finishing touch, the syrup and cinnamon are added. In a way, it is reminiscent of another hearty dessert: leche frita.

The book presents more recipes, but it is worth exploring them through its pages, as they all have a special meaning that is key in each chapter. Do not miss the opportunity to try, or imagine, the Chabela Cake (Pastel Chabela), the Turkey Mole (Mole de guajolote) with almond and sesame (ajonjolí), the Northern Chorizo (Chorizo Norteño), the Large Beans with Tezcucana-style Chile (Frijoles gordos con chile a la tezcucana) or the Chiles in Walnut Sauce (Chiles en nogada). Dishes that are a delight and form part of the Mexican landscape.

Now we share these recipes for loving, crying, and reflecting, reminding you that the passion for food is intimately linked to the passion for life.

The Recipes from Like Water for Chocolate: Ingredients and Step-by-Step

Christmas Cakes (Tortas de Navidad)

They are prepared during these dates or to celebrate a December birthday.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sardines in tomato sauce
• 1/2 chorizo
• 1 onion
• Oregano
• 1 can serrano chiles
• 10 teleras (white bread rolls or French bread)

Step-by-Step

1. The onion must be finely chopped (I suggest placing a piece of onion on your forehead to avoid the annoying tearing that occurs when cutting it).
2. Care must be taken to fry the chorizo for the cakes over very low heat, so that it is well cooked, but without browning excessively.
3. As soon as it is ready, remove it from the heat and add the sardines, from which the skeleton has previously been removed. It is also necessary to scrape the black spots off the skin with a knife.
4. Along with the sardines, mix the onion, chopped chiles, and ground oregano. Let the preparation rest before stuffing the cakes.
5. The teleras should preferably be baked at home. But if this is not possible, it is best to order small ones from the bakery, as large ones do not work properly for this recipe.
6. After stuffing them, bake for 10 minutes and serve hot. The ideal is to leave them outside overnight wrapped in a cloth, so that the bread is impregnated with the chorizo grease.

Chabela Cake (Pastel Chabela)

It can provoke nostalgia for past loves.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 175 g granulated sugar
• 300 g 0000 flour sifted 3 times
• 17 eggs
• Zest of 1 lemon

For the Filling

• 150 gr apricot paste (chabacano)
• 150 gr granulated sugar

For the Fondant:

• 800 gr granulated sugar
• 60 gr lemon juice and enough water to soak the sugar

Step-by-Step (for 18 servings)

For the Cake

1. In a saucepan, place five egg yolks, four whole eggs, and the sugar. Beat until the mixture thickens and add two more whole eggs. Continue beating, and when it thickens again, add another two whole eggs, repeating this step until all the eggs have been incorporated, two by two.
2. When the last two eggs are beaten, incorporate the lemon zest. When the batter has thickened sufficiently, stop beating and add the sifted flour, mixing it little by little with a wooden spatula until it is all incorporated.
3. Finally, grease a mold with butter, sprinkle with flour, and pour the batter into it. Bake in the oven for thirty minutes.

For the Filling

1. Place the apricots (chabacanos) over the heat with very little water, let them boil, and pass them through a sieve or strainer; if one is not available, a common colander can be used.
2. Put this paste in a saucepan, add sugar, and place it over the heat, stirring constantly until it reaches a jam consistency.
3. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly before placing it in the middle of the cake, which, of course, has been previously sliced.

For the Fondant

1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan over the heat, stirring constantly until it begins to boil.
2. Strain it into another saucepan and put it back on the heat, adding the lemon juice until it reaches the soft-ball stage (punto de bola floja), wiping the edges of the saucepan from time to time with a damp cloth so that the honey does not crystallize.
3. When it has reached the indicated point, pour it into another damp saucepan, sprinkle it on top, and let it cool slightly.
4. Then, with a wooden spatula, beat it until it coats the spatula (empaniza).
5. To apply it, add a tablespoon of milk and put it back on the heat to dissolve it, then add a drop of carmine and cover only the top of the cake with it.
6. The Nougat (Turrón): It is made with ten egg whites and five hundred grams of sugar beaten to the hard thread stage (punto de hebra fuerte). Cover the rest of the cake with it.

Quail in Rose Petals (Codornices en pétalos de rosas)

A pre-Hispanic recipe that provokes the most hidden instincts.

Ingredients

• 12 Roses (preferably red)
• 12 chestnuts
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 drops of rose essence
• 2 tablespoons anise
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves
• 6 quails
• 1 pitahaya

Step-by-Step

1. Carefully remove the rose petals, trying not to prick your fingers, because apart from being very painful (the prick), the petals can be stained with blood, and this, besides altering the flavor of the dish, can cause dangerous chemical reactions.
2. After plucking the quails, gather and tie their legs so that they maintain a graceful position while they are browned in butter, sprinkled with pepper and salt to taste. It is important to pluck the quails dry, as submerging them in boiling water alters the flavor of the meat.
3. Once the petals are stripped, grind them in the molcajete (mortar and pestle) along with the anise.
4. Separately, toast the chestnuts on the comal (griddle), peel them, and cook them in water. Then mash them into a purée.
5. Finely chop the garlic and brown it in butter; when it is lightly browned, add the chestnut purée, ground pitahaya, honey, rose petals, and salt to taste.
6. To thicken the sauce slightly, you can add two teaspoons of cornstarch. Finally, pass it through a sieve and add only two drops of rose essence, no more, as there is a risk of it becoming too fragrant and overpowering. As soon as it is seasoned, remove it from the heat.
7. The quails are only submerged in this sauce for ten minutes to soak up the flavor and then removed.
8. For decoration, place them on a platter, pour the sauce over them, and decorate with a whole rose in the center and petals on the sides, or they can be served directly on individual plates instead of using the platter.

Turkey Mole with Almond and Sesame (Mole de Guajolote con Almendra y Ajonjolí)

Perfect for throwing an unforgettable party.

Ingredients

• 1/4 mulato chile
• 3 ancho chiles
• A handful of almonds
• A handful of sesame seeds (ajonjolí)
• Turkey (guajolote) broth
• A sponge cake (1/2 of a concha roll)
• Peanuts
• 1/2 onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablets of chocolate
• Wine
• Anise
• Lard
• Clove
• Cinnamon
• Pepper
• Sugar
• Chile seeds

Paso a Paso

1. Two days after slaughtering the turkey, clean it and cook it with salt. Turkey meat is tasty and even exquisite if it has been carefully fattened.
2. Toast the almonds and sesame seeds on the comal. The ancho chiles, deveined, are also toasted, but not too much so they do not become bitter. This must be done in a separate pan, as a little lard is added. Then, grind them in a metate (grinding stone) along with the almonds and sesame seeds.
3. Once the almonds and sesame seeds are well ground, mix the broth where the turkey was cooked and add salt to taste.
4. In a molcajete (mortar and pestle), grind the clove, cinnamon, anise, pepper, and finally the sponge cake, which has been previously fried in lard along with the chopped onion and garlic. Then mix them with the wine and incorporate them.
5. When all the ingredients are ground as indicated, mix them in a pot, add the turkey pieces, the chocolate tablets, and sugar to taste. As soon as it thickens, remove it from the heat.

Northern Chorizo (Chorizo Norteño)

The ideal flavor for madness.

Ingredients

• 8 kilos pork loin
• 2 kilos trim or pork shoulder (cabeza de lomo)
• 1 kilo ancho chile
• 60 g cumin
• 60 g clove
• 2 cups garlic
• 2 liters apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 kilo salt

Paso a Paso

1. Place the vinegar over the heat and incorporate the chiles, from which the seeds have been previously removed. As soon as it boils, remove it from the heat and place a lid on the pot so that the chiles soften.
2. The spices must be ground; to facilitate this operation, it is good to add small splashes of vinegar from time to time while grinding. Finally, mix the very finely chopped or ground meat with the chiles and spices. Let it rest for a long time, preferably overnight.
3. The casings to be filled must be beef, clean, and cured. A funnel is used to fill them.
4. Tie them tightly at distances of four fingers and prick them with a needle to release the air, which can harm the chorizo. It is very important to compress it very well while filling so that there is no space left.

Oxtail Broth (Caldo de Colita de Res)

The broth that cures all ills. Disposable tissues are recommended.

Ingredients

• 2 oxtails
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 jitomates (tomatoes)
• 1/4 kilo green beans (ejotes, snap beans)
• 2 potatoes
• 4 morita chiles

Paso a Paso

1. The cut tails are put to cook with a piece of onion, a clove of garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. It is advisable to put a little more water than normally recommended for a stew, bearing in mind that we are going to prepare a broth. And a good, respectable broth has to be brothy, without being watery.
2. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry them in a little oil; once they are lightly browned, incorporate the potatoes, green beans, and chopped jitomate until they are seasoned.
3. Once seasoned with the potatoes and green beans, pour the broth into the pot where the oxtails have been cooking.
4. Once poured, just let all the ingredients boil together for half an hour. Then remove it from the heat and serve it very hot.

Chocolate and Epiphany Bread (Rosca de Pascuas)

Nothing like being at home to calm the nostalgia of hot chocolate and a Three Kings' bread.

Ingredients

For the Chocolate

• 900 g Soconusco cocoa
• 900 g Maracaibo cocoa
• 900 g Caracas cocoa
• Sugar (between 1.8 and 2.7 kg)

For the Epiphany Bread (Rosca de Reyes)

• 30 g fresh yeast
• 1 1/4 kg flour
• 8 eggs
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 300 g sugar
• 300 g butter
• 250 g candied fruits
• 1 porcelain doll

Paso a Paso

For the Chocolate

1. The first operation is to roast the cocoa. It is advisable to use a tin tray instead of the comal (griddle). It is extremely important to pay attention to these instructions, as the quality of the chocolate depends on three things: that the cocoa used is healthy, that different types of cocoa are mixed in its manufacture, and finally, its degree of roasting. The advisable degree of roasting is the moment when the cocoa begins to release its oil. If it is removed earlier, apart from looking discolored, it will be indigestible. Conversely, if it is left longer over the fire, the bean will be largely burned.
2. When the cocoa is roasted, clean it using a sieve to separate the husk from the bean. Place a heated earthenware bowl with good coals under the metate where it is to be ground, and when the metate is hot, proceed to grind the bean.
3. Then mix it with the sugar, crushing it with a mallet and grinding the two things together. Then divide the mass into pieces.
4. Mold the tablets with your hands, round or elongated according to taste, and let them air dry. You can mark the desired divisions with the tip of a knife.
5. Place a chocolate tablet with water over the flame (it can also be done with milk instead of water, but the chocolate made with water is easier to digest than milk chocolate). The amount of water should be slightly more than needed to fill the pot where it is to be boiled.
6. When it gives the first boil, remove it from the heat and dissolve the tablet perfectly, beat it with the molinillo (wooden whisk) until it is well incorporated with the water. Return it to the stove. When it boils again and starts to rise, remove it from the heat. Then put it back on and so on until it gives the third boil. Then remove it for the last time and beat it. Serve half in the cup and beat the rest again. Then serve everything, leaving the surface covered with foam.

For the Epiphany Bread (Rosca de Reyes)

1. With your hands, or using a fork, crumble the yeast into a quarter kilo of flour, gradually adding half a cup of warm milk. Once the ingredients are well incorporated, knead them and let them rest in the shape of a ball until the dough doubles in size.
2. Form a well with the kilo of flour on the table. Place all the ingredients in the center and knead, starting with those in the center and gradually taking the flour from the well until it is all incorporated.
3. When the dough containing the yeast has doubled in size, mix it with this other dough, integrating them perfectly until it comes away easily from your hands. Use a scraper to remove the dough sticking to the table to integrate it as well.
4. Then pour the dough into a deep, greased container. Cover it with a napkin and wait for it to rise again to double its size. Keep in mind that the dough takes approximately two hours to double its size, and it needs to do so three times before it can be put in the oven.
5. When the dough has doubled its size for the second time, pour it onto the table and make a strip with it. Place some candied fruits in pieces in the middle, if desired. If not, just one random porcelain doll. Roll the strip, inserting one end into the other. Place it on a greased and floured sheet with the seam side down. Shape it into a Rosca (ring), leaving enough space between it and the edge of the sheet, as it will still double its size one more time.
6. Meanwhile, light the oven to maintain a pleasant temperature in the kitchen until the dough finishes rising.
7. When the dough doubles its size for the third time, decorate it with the candied fruits, brush it with beaten egg, and sprinkle the sugar on it. Bake it for twenty minutes and then let it cool.

Champandongo

Its finesse ensures cementing commitments and consummating old loves.

Ingredients

• 1/4 ground beef
• 1/4 ground pork
• 200 g walnuts
• 200 g almonds
• 1 onion
• 1 acitrón (typical Mexican crystallized sweet)
• Cumin
• Chicken broth
• Corn tortillas
• Oil

Paso a Paso

1. Finely chop the onion and fry it along with the meat in a little oil. While it fries, add the ground cumin and a tablespoon of sugar.
2. When the meat begins to brown, add the chopped jitomate along with the acitrón, the walnuts, and the almonds cut into small pieces.
3. Once the meat is cooked, the next step is to fry the tortillas in oil—not too much so that they do not harden.
4. Then, in the dish that we are going to put in the oven, first put a layer of cream so that the dish does not stick, a layer of tortillas on top, a layer of picadillo (meat filling) over them, and finally the mole, covering it with sliced cheese and cream.
5. Repeat this operation as many times as necessary to fill the mold.
6. Place it in the oven and remove it when the cheese has melted and the tortillas have softened. Serve with rice and beans.

Cream Fritters (Torrejas de natas)

Revive warm childhood memories.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cream skimmings (natas)
• 6 eggs
• Cinnamon
• Syrup (Almíbar)

Paso a Paso

1. Take the eggs, break them, and separate the whites. The six yolks are mixed with the cup of natas. Beat these ingredients.
2. Then pour it into a casserole dish previously coated with lard. This mixture inside the dish should not exceed one finger in height.
3. Place it over the flame, over very low heat, and let it set.
4. Once the natas are cold, cut them into small squares to be coated afterward (Coated: covering an element with beaten egg white and then frying it in oil until lightly golden).
5. Beat one egg white in half a cuartillo (1/8 liter) of water for every two pounds (907 gr) of sugar or piloncillo, two egg whites in one cuartillo of water for five pounds of sugar, and in the same proportion for larger or smaller amounts.
6. Boil the syrup until it rises 3 times, calming the boil with a little cold water, which will be added each time it rises.
7. Then remove it from the heat, let it rest, and skim it; then add a little more water along with a piece of orange peel, anise, and clove to taste and let it boil.
8. Skim it again, and when it has reached the degree of cooking called the ball stage (punto de bola), strain it through a sieve or a dense cloth over a frame.
9. To find out if the syrup is at this point: dip your fingers in a goblet or jug of cold water and take some syrup, quickly putting it back into the water. If the syrup forms a ball when it cools and is handled like paste, it is cooked to the ball stage.

Large Beans with Tezcucana-style Chile (Frijoles Gordos con chile a la Tezcucana)

If the beans take time to cook, you must try to have thoughts that come from the heart.

Ingredientes

• Large beans (frijoles gordos)
• Pork
• Pork rind (Chicharrón)
• Ancho chile
• Onion
• Grated cheese
• Lettuce
• Avocado
• Radishes
• Tornachiles chiles
• Olives

Paso a Paso

1. The beans must first be cooked with tequesquite (a type of mineral salt), and after washing, they are cooked again along with small pieces of pork and pork rind.
2. Chop the onion and fry it in lard. When it browns, add the ground ancho chile and salt to taste.
3. Once the broth is seasoned, incorporate the beans along with the meat and the pork rind.
4. When serving, sprinkle grated cheese on them and garnish with tender lettuce leaves, avocado slices, chopped radishes, tornachiles chiles, and olives.

Jasmine Sorbet (Sorbete de Jazmín)

Something sweet to cheer up broken hearts.

Ingredientes

• 1 bunch of Jasmine
• 1 1/2 liters of water
• 230 g sugar

Paso a Paso

1. Crush a bunch of jasmine and put it in three quarters of a cuartillo of water with half a pound of sugar, mixing well.
2. Once the sugar is well dissolved, strain the mixture through a dense cloth and then put it to freeze in the sorbet maker.

Chiles in Walnut Sauce (Chiles en nogada)

If prepared correctly, it can ignite the soul of whoever eats it.

Ingredientes

• 25 poblano chiles
• 8 pomegranates
• 100 walnuts (nueces de Castilla)
• 100 g aged fresh cheese
• 1 kg ground beef
• 100 g raisins
• 1/4 k almonds
• 1/4 k walnuts
• 1/2 k jitomates (tomatoes)
• 2 medium onions
• 2 acitrones
• 1 peach
• 1 apple
• Cumin
• White pepper
• Salt
• Sugar

Paso a Paso

1. Peeling the walnuts should begin a few days in advance, as it is a very laborious task that involves many hours of dedication.
2. After removing the shell, the skin covering the walnut must be peeled off. Special care must be taken so that no piece adheres to any of them, because when grinding them and mixing them with the cream, they would bitter the nogada (walnut sauce), rendering all previous effort sterile.
3. Once all the walnuts are peeled, grind them in the metate along with the cheese and the cream. Finally, add salt and white pepper to taste. The stuffed chiles are covered with this nogada and then decorated with pomegranate.
4. For the Filling: Fry the onion in a little oil. When it is lightly browned, add the ground meat, cumin, and a little sugar.
5. Once the meat is browned, incorporate the peaches, apples, walnuts, raisins, almonds, acitrones, and chopped jitomate until seasoned.
6. When seasoned, add salt to taste and let it dry before removing it from the heat.
7. Separately, roast the chiles and peel them. Then open them on one side and remove the seeds and veins.
8. It is clear that some of these are old recipes, and some ingredients may not be found in many countries, but you will be able to prepare others and enjoy their flavors.