Kayseri Original · Tiny Dumplings

Kayseri Mantı

Photo: E4024 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

A traditional saying holds that a Kayseri bride's mantı should be so small that forty pieces fit on a single spoon.

Dozens of tiny dumplings, barely larger than a fingernail, are hand-folded around a speck of spiced ground beef, boiled, and served swimming in garlicky yogurt with a drizzle of sizzled butter and paprika. Kayseri's cooks are judged partly on how small they can fold each piece.

Why it's made this way: Kayseri, a historic Silk Road trading city in Central Anatolia, developed an especially refined, miniature style of mantı, distinguishing it from the larger dumplings found elsewhere in Turkey and Central Asia.