Credit: HBO The new and acclaimed television adaptation of the 1989 classic Mexican novel Like Water for Chocolate is lush, sensual and an indulgent feast for the senses, in more ways than one.

One of her most well-known books, “Dulcinea Encantada,” published in 1992, tells the story of one of Don Quixote’s crushes in modern-day Mexico. Stuck inside a car in a traffic jam ...