Hi, I'm Keara — a software engineer by day, and a Puerto Rican wife to my wonderful husband, who's from Moldova.
The first time I flew to Moldova, it was unlike anywhere I'd ever been. I remember thinking: where's the adobo? Where are the plátanos?
I spend a lot of time these days traveling between the U.S. and Moldova, and every trip is a small reset — half the ingredients I grew up cooking with just aren't there, and the cuisine is entirely its own thing. But somewhere in that adjustment, I fell in love with Moldovan food — and my husband, in turn, fell for a few Latin staples of his own: a good sofrito base, and pretty much anything built around rice and meat.
Still, when we first started cooking for each other, neither of us really knew what to make that we'd both actually be comfortable eating. He loves hearty, meaty, saucy, tangy foods, while I could happily eat arroz con habichuelas every day.
So meal after meal, I found myself trying to bridge our worlds, making Puerto Rican dishes a little more Moldovan, borrowing techniques and ingredients from both cultures, and discovering that many of our favorite comfort foods were more alike than I expected.
I realized I wasn't looking for another recipe website. I wanted something that understood why each culture cooks the way it does, could help recreate home with the ingredients you actually have, and thoughtfully blend traditions into something new.
Mesa Comuna was born from that journey, with the hope of helping anyone living between cultures create new memories around a shared table without leaving their old traditions behind.
— Keara, founder of Mesa Comuna