One can’t help but fall in love with Georgia. Everyone who once travelled here strives to visit this hospitable and “tasty” country at least once more. Men will be delighted with meat dishes, women and children will appreciate the rich selection of Georgian sweets. And even if you are a habitual vegetarian, dishes from various vegetables will surely made you fall in love with the rich taste and unusual presentation.
First, take a walk through the Georgian market, and then move on to the kitchen and see, what is eaten in sunny Georgia?
1. If you had been drinking wine a little bit last night (let me say, that in Georgia wine flows), then the next day you need to be treated with hot and rich Georgian soup. The most popular one is the spicy tomato beef kharcho. Hot soup is usually served with cold chacha or vodka. Yesterday’s feast grows into today’s and becomes an endless Georgian feast.
Kharcho! This is a thick soup with beef, rice, nuts and plums (the latter is added in the form of tkemale sauce or tklapi – dried fruit cakes). In addition to the standard set of spices, a lot of garlic is put in it. By the way, the ready-made mixture of kharcho in Georgia is sold everywhere and is very tasty.
2. Khachapuri… Well, you can think that we start with something common, but what do we really know about khachapuri? The name means: “hatcha” – cottage cheese, “puri” – bread. In fact, this is a tortilla stuffed with cheese and egg.
Adjarian khachapuri require special treatment. A bread boat with cheese is cooked in the oven, then it is taken out, the egg is broken into the cheese middle and a piece of butter is added. When the dish is served to the table, it is still very hot, so you can see how the butter melts and the yolk hardens. You need to stir the fillings with a fork or knife and eat, tearing bread at the edges and dipping it into the filling …. hands, of course.
They are eaten everywhere in this country and all the time. You can serve it as separate dish together with vegetables as appetizers or use it as a starter.
Adjarian khachapuri is the most beautiful and appetizing. Served as an open boat with cheese, egg and a slice of butter inside
3. Khinkali – the most famous dish in the world. The whole country is proud of them. Once you try, you will understand that this is LOVE. The main ingredient of khinkali, despite their similarity to our dumplings, is the broth, which makes khinkali so incredibly juicy. Outwardly and to taste they resemble huge dumplings with a tail, sprinkled with black pepper. Filling is the most diverse: from meat to vegetable.
We eat khinkali with our hands, holding the “tail”, which is then thrown away. The main thing is not to spill the precious liquid :). Firstly, it’d be more comfortable to bite a little and drink the broth, and then eat up the rest.
Undoubtedly, the local food and wine prepared in Georgia are awesome. Everything is delicious here. The restaurants serve homemade food, while toasts with wine or chacha dip you even more into the world of national hospitality. It is impossible to come here once and forever forget about these satisfying feasts. And most joyful thing for locals are guests who return to Georgia second time. Customarily, Georgians call them “gifts from God”.
