My name is Maral.  I’m from Turkmenistan and I’m excited to share my favourite traditional food with you. Turkmenistan used to be a part of the Soviet Union. It has borders with Iran and Afghanistan and shares much delicious food culture with those countries. I started cooking at a young age with my grandmother. She was an amazing cook. I lived with her for a few years and I loved watching her cook usually early in the morning. When I moved out, that’s when I started doing things myself. Her cooking inspired me and I love to serve the recipes I learned from her and recreate a taste of home.

Cooking is a form of meditation for me. It’s a good way to feel relaxed. Many of my recipes are prepared together with friends and family. I believe that sharing and preparing food together is a great environment to build connections. By cooking together I hope we can also create space for stories as well as create a delicious feast that we will share together at the end. You can probably tell that I am very proud of traditional Turkmen food and my culture and I am looking forward to teaching you about it.