Imagine having an Indian-born friend in the kitchen, teaching you to cook her favorite dishes. Or an Iraqi, Mexican or Ukrainian friend who can cook and is willing to teach you.
That is the concept behind the Culture Kitchen, where immigrants who have made their homes in the San Francisco Bay Area show others how to cook dishes from their native countries. “It’s just as much about all our chefs’ great stories … as it is about the food,” said Abby Sturges, who co-founded the Culture Kitchen with Jennifer Lopez, a fellow graduate student from Stanford University.
In addition to cooking classes, there are a website and blog with recipes and stories about the cooks and their cuisines — Afghan, Colombian, French, Indian, Iraqi, Mexican, Nicaraguan, Peruvian, Taiwanese, Thai and Ukrainian.
Above, Suchitra Rangnekar (right), who came to the United States 25 years ago from Mumbai, India, shows Lopez how to make chicken tikka kebabs.