Babies born on kitchen tables, quail and rose petals burning up sexual appetites, ox-tail soup for the mommy-battered soul; cooking and food is so much more than a remedy, so much more than a theme. It's a way to gather people together, to recall lost loves and childhood sweethearts. Tita knows better than anyone in the novel how much food can mean to a person, especially for someone who wants to be free and can't be.
Questions About Cooking as a Remedy
- Do you think cooking allows Tita to find freedom on the ranch? Is she controlled by anybody in the kitchen?
- What power does cooking have over Tita? Over the people who eat her dishes?
- Which dish do you think has the most power in the novel and why?
- Do you think chapter 6 is considered cooking? Is John also a sort of healer?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
For Tita, violence is not a form of communication but cooking is.
Cookbooks are a form of literature and should be read and shared within families.