"Culture and family are important to me," says Kim, 32.
She shares that value with the rest of the 30- and 40-year-olds in the group - seven strangers who met through Meetup.com two years ago and quickly realized a shared passion for food and its formative place in culture.
"We are diverse in our backgrounds," says Lesu Ali, a first-generation Indian-American. "But we have so many streaks in common."
So it seemed only natural for the group to focus on ethnic cooking at its March 25 meeting.
They may take their food seriously, but this is an otherwise casual bunch - so no one coordinated the menu. It just fortuitously resulted in an even mix of savories and sweets, with champagne for all.
Ali stepped outside her Indian culture to bring an Israeli dish: couscous with dried apricots and currants.
"To me, Indian food isn't ethnic," said Ali, who thinks her family's Indian restaurant may have been the first of its kind in Detroit. She worked there on the weekends, making samosas, parathas, pooris and pappadams.
"And now when I make ravioli or empanadas at home, I know I'm using the same techniques."
"The atmosphere at home was always open to other cultures and what they served," she said. "When the restaurant was closed one day a week, we went to a neighborhood Greek restaurant."
Meanwhile, Kathy Simon and Tinamarie Fairfax made Indian specialties not native to their backgrounds.
For Simon, the choice was moong dal - an Indian stew of yellow lentils, cumin and tumeric.
Fairfax made a creamy, delicious kulfi - a South Asian ice cream made with boiled milk, which gives it a delicate caramelized flavor and smooth taffylike texture. (See accompanying recipe.)
