SOURCE: Mujica, Barbara. “Body and Soul.” Américas (English edition) 50, no. 3 (June 1998): 60.

In the following review, Mujica lauds both the literary and gastronomical dimensions of Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses.

Ever since Laura Esquivel published her spectacularly successful novel, Like Water for Chocolate, Latin American women writers have been putting out collections of literary writing combined with recipes. Well, it worked once … Isabel Allende's contribution to this hybrid genre includes personal observations and stories, letters from friends, folklore, properties of different kinds of foods, tales from diverse cultures, historical observations—some of them fairly inaccurate, numerous recipes, and drawings that range from spectacular to adorable.

Although Aphrodite is hardly a literary masterpiece, it is written with a mirth and animation that make it a joy to read. Like Esquivel, Allende starts from the premise that food and love are inextricably joined. Preparing and eating food is an...