JANUARY 2020 83
MY MOM IS A GREAT COOK. SHE COMES BY
it naturally, and she is obsessed with it. My
mom will be the first to tell you she has an
eating disorder—then she will say it’s just
like how her daughter (me) is an alcoholic.
So much for anonymity.
At a very young age, she found comfort
in food. Her mother was cold, her father
was an alcoholic, and mostly she was left
alone. Some parents tell stories about walk-
ing miles to school in the cold. In 1949, at
five years old, in her dirty little dress and no
shoes, my mom was put on a bicycle. Her
mother said, “School is that way.” To hear
her tell it, she never had a birthday party
until she was old enough to give herself one.FOOD
BECOMES
LOVE
HOW A BOWL OF NOODLES
BECOMES YOUR COMFORT,
YOUR COMPANION,
YOUR BEST FRIEND
by ILIANA REGANChef and writer
Iliana Regan’s
Braised Beef and
Handmade Noodles
(recipe p. 91)