Arsenic and Adobo focuses on the food of the Philippines. Before the first chapter, the author provides a glossary and pronunciation guide that gives information about the dishes that Lila and her family cook. The titular adobo is a sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and black peppercorns, according to Manansala’s glossary. However, she notes that there are regional differences. The Philippines is comprised of more than 7,000 islands, resulting in a large diversity in Filipino cooking. Another dish listed in the glossary is ginataang bilo-bilo, which is “[a]ny dish cooked with coconut milk, sweet or savory” (x). In Chapter 2, this dish is described as “[p]ure coziness and warmth in a bowl” (13). The glossary gives non-Filipino readers more information about the basic composition of the dishes, which allows the prose to convey the emotional significance of the food. In addition to appearing on the menu of Tita Rosie’s Kitchen, food is used as a pet name. Lila’s dachshund is named Longganisa, after the Filipino sausage. At the end of the book, Manansala includes recipes for some of the dishes that appear in the novel.

Though the town of Shady Palms, Illinois is fictional, the nearby city of Chicago has a large Filipino American population.