OUR NEXT EVENT is LIVE!
Join us on September 1 for Chapter 5 of our Story-Worthy Food Series, featuring Aisha’s menu honoring her journey from Kuwait City to Baltimore.
Before Mera had a name, we hosted dinners at Aisha’s house to test this idea we had of bringing neighbors together over a shared meal and storytelling. When we envisioned our first restaurant, Aisha emphasized the need for a large communal table where people could meet new and old friends, and enjoy long meals and conversations. When we vended at the Farmer’s Market, Aisha would greet everyone who passed, explaining our dishes in a way that both honored the cuisine while inviting them to try something they maybe never heard of before. At Mera, Aisha helps build bridges among members of our team, our community, and beyond and has played a pivotal role in shaping Mera into what it has become.
I grew up in an intergenerational family house in Kuwait with my grandmother, uncles, and cousins. With so many people living together, there were many gatherings over food. The long table always had food for every generation in the family: traditional dishes such as Gabbout (Kuwaiti-style dumplings), a bucket of KFC chicken, and fried Indian snacks, like samosas and pakora. That mishmash of items on one table has stayed with me. This is a sample of my childhood memories of growing up in Kuwait. Some of the dishes are traditionally Kuwaiti, and some have Levantine influence, while others carry Indian influence, since Kuwait has a long history of trade with India.
MENU
Chapter 5: Aisha
from Kuwait to Baltimore
Pakora | Carrot & onion chickpea flour fritters, served with tamarind dakkous (vegan, gf)
Ma'bouch and Sides | Platter with Salada Refiya (cucumber, tomato, onion, lemon, olive oil), Ajar (pickled tomatoes, mushroom, pearl onion, brown vinegar) and Ma’bouch (coarse hot chili pepper & garlic condiment) (vegan, ajar contains gluten)
Gabbout | Onion & sultana raisin dumplings, in turmeric & ginger tomato stew (vegan)
Murabyan | Marinated shrimp on moong dal & basmati rice cooked with dried shrimp, spices, tomato, butter (GF, contains dairy, shrimp)
Kethra | Stewed fish & rice in tomato curry, parsley oil (contains dairy, shrimp)
Marqouqa Fagaa | Layered stew with mushrooms, dried lime, ginger, tomato, saaj, topped with shaved truffles (vegan)
Gers Ogaily | Saffron & cardamom sponge cake with sesame seeds (vegetarian, contains dairy)
Mahalabiya | Cardamom & rose-scented coconut custard with peach jelly (vegan, gf)
Chocolate milk | Housemade cashew milk, Jinji's dark chocolate (vegan, gluten-free, contains nuts)
Plus house-made juices and speciality cocktails!
More about the series:
The Story-Worthy Food Series grew out of our early experiences at Mera, and a desire to share meals that reflect one’s personal identities, highlighting pieces from their life and journey that have shaped them and brought them to Baltimore. Each dish and each cuisine offers its own interpretation, just as language does. The same experience can be described in different words, and yet some words only exist in certain languages. Food works the same way: rooted in a specific place and moment, and yet constantly generating new meanings as it travels. Tradition and its evolving versions exist side by side, each one informing the other.
This is what our food series explores. It highlights individuals from our team, the places they have lived, and the dishes most sentimental to them. How does a dish carry someone back to a place they have known? How does it introduce them to one they have not? And how does that change them? This series is about the human story of where we come from, how we travel, and what we carry with us. Does a conversation change what we eat? Or does what we eat change the conversation?
Read more about our series in The Baltimore Beat and The Baltimore Banner.
(SOME) Past Events:
August 2026 | Mera Crab Feast
August 2026 | Storyworthy Food Series - Chapter 4: Emilienne - From Burkina Faso to Baltimore
June 2026 | Storyworthy Food Series - Chapter 3: Iris - From Guerrero, MX to Baltimore, MD
April 2026 | Storyworthy Food Series - Chapter 2: Anysa - From California to Yemen to Baltimore
March 2026 | Storyworthy Food Series - Chapter 1: Vilma - From El Savador to Belize to Baltimore
January 2026 | A Hearty Meal Dinner Conversations
November 2025 | Collage Night with Teri Henderson
October 2025 | Hallow-Mera Halloween Party
April 2025 | Brazil Night with Diego Soares Rebouças
November 2024 | Brunch Fundraiser with Chef Marcelle Afram of Shababi
March 2024 | Brunch Fundraiser with Z&Z
December 2022 | Last Call with The Empanada Lady + BlkAss Flea Market
December 2022 | Voyage à Ouagadougu Dinner with Emilienne
November 2022 | A Night In Red with Eric
August 2022 | Une Noche En Tlapa Dinner with Rogelio and Dionisia
June 2022 | Wonders of Damascus Dinner with Iman
March 2020 | Syrian Brunch @ Wet City
November 2019 | World Comfort Kitchen @ Compass Rose
July 2019 | Chef’s Iman, Mona and Anna @ Fadensonnen
June 2019 | Third Refugee and Immigrant Arts Feast
May 2019 | Mezze on the Roof @ Lord Baltimore Hotel Skybar
April 2019 | Aisha @ TEDxJHU
March 2019 | Chef Zaid & Chef David Diaspora Dinner @ Ida B’s Table
March 2019 | Chef Iman’s Shawarma @ Fadensonnen
January 2019 | Chef Iman’s Shawarma @ Fadensonnen
January 2019 | Mera x Cajou @ Lord Baltimore Hotel
December 2018 | Second Refugee and Immigrant Arts Feast
November 2018 | Habibi Dinner
October 2018 | The Stories of Mera Kitchen @ Baltimore Museum of Art
September 2018 | Charm City Night Market
September 2018 | Shawarma on the Roof @ Lord Baltimore Hotel Skybar
July 2018 | Damascus Meets Caracas @ Alma Cocina Latina
April 2018 | Refugee and Immigrant Arts Feast @ 2640 Space
December 2017 | Eritrean Coffee Ceremony @ Greenmount Coffee Lab
November 2017 | Wonders of Damascus @ Clavel
June 2017 | Wonders of Damascus @ Hersh's