Is that recipe relying on chocolate as the MAOI for the ayahuasca? I've heard mimosa can be active on its own but I highly doubt it without added beta-carbolines. Chocolate alone can't enable it.
The internet has many pros and cons; one of its cons, which is relevant here, is misinformation: . . .
An appropriate example is chocolate: Chocolate contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), right. If you search through the internet for keywords like “chocolate” and “MAO”, it seems obvious that chocolate contains MAOIs; that many websites can’t be wrong, surely. On closer inspection, you’ll find that the myriad of websites offering this information, actually have the same couple of sentences/paragraphs in them, just copied and pasted from other websites. None of them actually provide references to research indicating their claims to be true. Even if chocolate does contain MAOIs, it may be in negligible quantities or with minimal effects, but this doesn’t stop them from applying this unfounded knowledge to make other inaccurate claims.
It turns out that chocolate does contain trace amounts of tetrahydro-beta-carbolines (THBCs), which exhibit MAOI activity. Up to a massive 7 micrograms per gram (sorry about the sarcasm). If you add “tetrahydro-beta-carbolines” to your keyword list, you’ll get more useful results. But how would you have known that in the first place? If only all of those other websites were referenced properly!
THBCs as MAOIs in chocolate are in such small amounts as to be negligible: Other foods, such as salami and fruits, contain THBCs in more significant quantities than chocolate, with no apparent effects. THBCs may play an extremely small part in synergy with other components of chocolate to give it its perceived effects, but this has yet to be established. To say that chocolate contains MAOIs is technically correct, but very misleading. This is how inaccuracies get spread and become internet urban legends.
As for seeing friends in the trip, whatever it was on, I totally believe her. In several of my vaped DMT experiences, avatars of specific humans have appeared. Sometimes I don't recognize them, but a couple of times they were close friends. The first time, a good psychonaut friend of mine faded in, out of the darkness of my closed eyes, dancing to the music that was playing. He was bobbing and swaying with the beat, twisting and turning to the groove. He looked right at me, grinning, nodding with his whole head, face and eyebrows like "yeahh, man, this is really happenin'!" Gave me a huge wave of comfort and reassurance as I practically burst out laughing.
I've had two telepathic experiences with this friend, too, on separate ayahuasca sessions. Kind of hard to explain them; was an unintentional and fleeting phenomenon. It wasn't that we were reading each other's thoughts, but having the same thoughts at the same moment. The second time, he was playing guitar while I was writing and rocking to the music. During a twang, I felt this energy in my body that I let loose as a shoulder shrug. It immediately felt familiar as the exact shrugging gesture that I've witnessed belong to my friend's personality. Startled, I stop what I'm doing to turn around. In that moment my friend sitting behind me guffaws, as he saw me and understood what just happened. Being the second time, though years later, we both shared excited sounds of astonishment but didn't have to speak our minds to know we just connected. It was actually happening more subtly between a lot of us that night; we were taking it in a group of 7. Everyone was highly aware of each other and holding a compassionate mindset which allowed for this feedback of energy and information. Ayahuasca is incredible.
The other time that I saw a friend in a vaped dmt trip I was sitting at my desk preparing myself when the friend messaged me on facebook. I've tripped with this friend several times, dmt included. At some point in the conversation I put on some music that they just made and uploaded, some alternative acoustic songs. I decided it was a good time to pause and do the hits while I listened to their music. It was a strong, seemingly loong trip that the music animated greatly. The sound of my friend's voice produced a tangible presence, I could feel their energy. At some point, similarly to the first time, this friend popped out of the nether and began grooving to the music. The image of them captured their personality and behavior perfectly as they danced, especially since they also created the music! I could see so many parallels between his sound and his physical energy.
Both of my friends are probably better people than I in many ways; I think their presence in my trips was a mechanism to get me to trust in myself and the experience more. Their dancing was like they were trying to entice me to do what they were doing and flow with the rhythm, as cheesy as that all sounds. Similarly to how your wife's friends were egging her to follow to a higher 'level'. Denying that trust and resisting is the only way you're guaranteed a rough ride in these experiences. I can't blame her resistance though, being 17 and dosed unknowingly. She would probably be mature enough to explore it deeper and enjoyably if she were to try it again willingly.