Writer. Storyteller. Baker.

Kurdish cooking seldom gets a mention or nod by food writers. I created this space to amplify the rich food culture we share with much of the Levant, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey in the SWANA region (i.e. the Middle East). I am here to give our cuisine a seat at the culinary table one story at a time.

Hi! I’m Tara (Dalia is my middle name) and welcome to my table, a place for storytelling and bridging my culinary journey with the history and origins of where food comes from, and what ultimately bond us. I am Kurdish, raised in the UK and Middle East, spent a little time in Canada, now based in NYC. The foundation of my life is a reflection of what I make, where East meets West. I want to amplify our cooking and the Middle Eastern/SWANA diaspora. Our cuisines and cultures are based upon so much shared history and space that we forget we are holistically united across it all. Food is a universal language, it is the common ground that bases us. The Middle East has culminated in a shared culinary world due to fallen empires, migration, and so on, that they have impacted Kurdish cuisine heavily across our four territories. Appreciating our influence in the culinary world, but also what we have received and adapted are the basis of our livelihood, identity and ancestral lineage.

When I’m not baking, you can find me transcribing my mum’s recipes. The best way a third culture kid could understand her roots and feel connected between two identities was through food. I was the kid who wanted to be in the kitchen. It is the belief that the heart of a home is the kitchen and that speaks to me and a well-lived life.