Why food?

Why not?

I am going to be candid here. My love affair with food started at a young age. I remember watching my mom and grandmother prepare amazing meals in the smallest of kitchens.

The first dish I cooked by myself, at about 8 or 9 years old, was fried rice. I remember craving it and no one wanted to cook it. I asked my uncle (who is a formidable cook as well) how to make fried rice. He told me how and I did it.... with some minor adjustments: since I was not allowed to handle a big knife, I did not use garlic. I did use quite a bit of salt in lieu of the garlic. It turned out beautifully. The sense of accomplishment coupled with how good it really tasted allowed me to fully savor each and every bite. 

Fast forward a few years. The rebellion had started and I decided to turn vegetarian. To be honest, I did it to mask a more serious problem: I was entrenched in the early stages of anorexia. In order to lose weight, I chose to stop eating meat (I'm sure PETA members are not too pleased to hear that I was a leather-wearing veggie). When I told my mother the news, she refused to cook without meat. Who could blame her? When you come from a country where meat is expensive, you certainly are not going to take it for granted. I had two choices: eat meat or cook for myself. I chose the latter. It also enabled me to control what went into my mouth, which is characteristic of anorexia.

Let me explain this: when you're starving, all you can think about is food. When you're starving ALL the time, you think about food ALL the time. I started watching cooking shows on PBS (we didn't have cable), borrowing recipe books from the library, etc. I also started creating dishes I would fancy eating. I cooked a lot; however, as the disease progressed, my food intake became less and less, amounting to almost nothing. At that point, tasting the food for seasoning was enough. 

After years of struggle, I was able to overcome the eating disorders (I also had a brief stint with bulimia). I have been in recovery for 7 years.

The eating disorders may have gone, but the passion for food and cooking remains.