Cooking Classes were one of the integral events at BAYCC’s cultural center in Sacramento. Participants learned one Turkish dish at a time. BAYCC’s women volunteers held the events publicly, were announced through Eventbrite, and were participated by guests from different walks of life. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of the center, which also resulted in the ending of Cooking Class events.

However, Ms. Eda Dogan, one of our community members, has always been passionate and searched for different ways of organizing cooking classes. Spontaneously, she shared her thoughts about this at an Iftar dinner with her friends, and the idea of doing the cooking sessions from home by inviting friends and doing this as a workshop has come up. Now, the cooking class group gathers monthly in one of the members’ homes, and the host demonstrates her culture’s meal, turning into Interethnic Cooking Club.

During the meetups, the group discusses topics from different angles, such as the “Islamic perspective of being a Muslim woman in the US,” “Raising kids in a foreign country,” etc., while eating what they cook in the session. The group has only eight members due to limited kitchen space. Performing cooking classes as a small and closed group leads the ladies to have honest conversations and heartfelt relationships with each other. Sometimes, the group organizes family get-togethers to let all family members come together. Currently, other ladies in the community are discussing creating small groups by inviting their friends, neighbors, and coworkers interested in cultural exchange through cooking.