Yesterday was our first workshop of the Takeaway Caffe here at Krogarvagen 26.

At first, all of our guests were from Botkyrka Konsthall…

(photo: Ryo Yonami)

Shashtin, the ceramicist at the Konsthall, taught Ryo how to peel an apple in 30 seconds flat while they began simmering the apple butter which would cook all afternoon.

(photo: Ryo Yonami)

The kitchen was pretty quiet at first, so we began cooking Fittja Food recipes, including a winter vegetable soup which we put on to boil just as Irina, the curatorial intern at Botkyrka Konsthall, walked through the door.

Here is Irina at the table with Elmas, our friend from October, who had been waiting for us to come back. Elmas taught us how to make Turkish dolma in October, so when she came, we began steaming the eggplant and peppers to stuff for this week’s dolma.

Here are Erik, Irina, and Chanise discussing recipes. By far the most prepared visitor, Chanise brought much more than she took away! She arrived with a whole chicken, a pair of slippers to wear, and ready to chat, saying that in Jamaica, where she’s from, everything happens around a plate of jerk chicken.

As she was writing the recipe, team MAGO showed up: Mohsen, Oden, and Gyorgye, three friends who were ready to cook. All of their fathers work as restaurateurs or cooks in restaurants, some as far away as northern Sweden, and they confidently took knife in hand, cutting up Chanise’s chicken and spicing it – heavily! – for a very open interpretation of Chanise’s recipe.

As the chicken was finishing, our friends Cevda and Kubra came and took charge of the last of the cooking and eating:

When it was all over, we had cooked a massive feast, including winter vegetable soup, eggplant and pepper dolmas, MAGO’s extremely spicy jerk chicken, beetroot salad, a chicken stock for the week, apple butter, and a cauldron of milk tea, mixing recipes from Jamaica, Turkey, Estonia, Sri Lanka, Chile, and of course Tumba and Fittja.

We sat down for a final conversation with the kids about food, agriculture, St. Lucia Day (today! the 13th of December!), and Rihanna, and then the hallway began to empty of boots, jackets, and snow pants.

Cevda, Kubra, and Allison – our daily participants from the fall caffe – were the last to leave, and we’ll see them again today at 7:30 at Fittja School for the St Lucia Day ceremonies!