In the Fittja residency apartment, we opened the windows to the neighborhood, inviting kids who were perhaps wisely wary of our offers of cookies. Eventually they again became accustomed to us and stopped by repeatedly to sample what we might have to offer and to practice their English. Some friends stopped by too, including Elmasz, who spent a few days teaching us how to cook manti, or Turkish dumplings.

She quickly tossed together some unmeasured flour, eggs, and water, and kneaded it into grapefruit sized balls. She hand mixed ground lamb with tomato paste, pepper puree, chopped onions, parsley, and every imaginable type of paprika for the filling.

Elmasz is very discreet and asked that we not photograph her face. But her powerful hands were where all the action was, as she swiftly rolled out the dough and pinched the ravioli into tiny packages.

She was a breathtaking manti-making machine. When Amanda tried to step in and help out, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure Elmasz said “step off girl, I got this.” She then efficiently suggested that we dolma the leftover filling — make it into cabbage rolls.

So, first we mantied and then we dolmaed.