The protagonist owns the Vesuvius Bar and hires the title character to be his cook.  
This work notes that all men of the central town envision Gloria while banging their ugly wives, and she eventually publicizes her affair with the poet Josue.  A married engineer brought in to study a sandbar carries on an affair with the high-society Malvina in this work.  Political forces in this novel include Manuel of the Jaguars and Jesuino Mendonca, who kills his cheating wife Sinhazinha and her lover, the town dentist Osmundo.  The central town of Ilheus is controlled by "Colonel" Ramiro Bastos, whom aristocratic outcast Mundinho Falcao hopes to topple with democratic reforms.  The protagonist owns the Vesuvius Bar and hires the title character to be his cook.  FTP, name this novel featuring Nacib Saad whose title mulatto woman is an excellent chef and lover, a work of Jorge Amado.
This work notes that all men of the central town envision Gloria while banging their ugly wives, and she eventually publicizes her affair with the poet Josue.  
{Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon} or {Gabriela, cravo e canela} (3) [AH]