LIKE WATER FOR HOT CHOCOLATE By Laura Esquivel (Doubleday, $135) DO you know how to castrate a chicken? Indeed, did you know that castration is a prerequisite for the preparation of capons? Apparently the best way to perform this culinary operation is to make an incision over the chicken's testicles, stick a finger in to get hold of them, and then pull them out.
It is far beyond the reviewer's customary duties to put this method to the test but I see no reason to distrust Ms Esquivel who is bursting with recipes and tips about how to perform various household chores.
According to her publishers this best-selling Mexican author has produced a ''unique culinary romance''. I have to admit that the culinary romance is a literary genre with which I am totally unfamiliar but that is not to say that it won't take off.
After all, science fiction was considered pioneering when H. G. Wells started messing about with time machines.
Indeed if culinary romance is the coming thing in literature, Laura Esquivel has proved herself to be a worthy pioneer. She has a list of characters almost as rich as some of her recipes.
Take, for example, her sister's wedding cake recipe. It required 17 eggs, 175 grams of refined granulated sugar matched by a ''mere'' 300 grams of cake flour ''sifted three times''.
I quite like Mexican food every now and again but have to say that I am quite defeated by some of Ms Esquivel's recipes. Chocolate and Three Day King's Bread requires prior roasting of the chocolate beans, which must be done in a metal pan rather than anearthenware griddle. It all sounds too much like hard work and is certainly not recommended for the weight conscious.
