English 12
Chu
Like Water for Chocolate : “A Recipe for Symbolism”
Designing a Menu based on Like Water for Chocolate
Directions:
In the novel, Esquivel draws symbolic connections between food and emotions. Your task is to design a
menu that imitates this same level of overt and subtle symbolism. The following guidelines will help you to
achieve your task:
 Choose an emotion
 Brainstorm ingredients and foods that might symbolically represent this emotion
 Create a minimum of three different meal items for a breakfast, lunch or dinner plus the basic
ingredients of each recipe (for example, you could include a main entrée, an appetizer, and a drink,
all of which symbolically represent and reinforce the same emotion)
 Here’s an example:
o Emotion: Bitterness
o Drink: Ice-Cold Lemonade
o Ingredients:
 Half dozen barely ripe lemons
 Two particularly sour limes
 Half pound of crushed ice
 A pinch of sugar
English 12
Chu
Like Water for Chocolate : “A Recipe for Symbolism”
Designing a Menu based on Like Water for Chocolate
Directions:
In the novel, Esquivel draws symbolic connections between food and emotions. Your task is to design a
menu that imitates this same level of overt and subtle symbolism. The following guidelines will help you to
achieve your task:
 Choose an emotion
 Brainstorm ingredients and foods that might symbolically represent this emotion
 Create a minimum of three different meal items for a breakfast, lunch or dinner plus the basic
ingredients of each recipe (for example, you could include a main entrée, an appetizer, and a drink,
all of which symbolically represent and reinforce the same emotion)
 Here’s an example:
o Emotion: Bitterness
o Drink: Ice-Cold Lemonade
o Ingredients:
 Half dozen barely ripe lemons
 Two particularly sour limes
 Half pound of crushed ice
 A pinch of sugar