Our large table heaves with dishes and platters of food — little golf balls of pkhali served on a rustic board — bright orange, red and green balls like pâté made from carrots, spinach or beets chopped finely and then mixed with ground walnuts and garlic and spiced with fenugreek and coriander, topped with pomegranate seeds, eggplant rolls called Badryani which are sliced, salted and fried before they are stuffed with a walnut paste with red chilli and basil, and wedges of firm tomatoes with chunks of cucumber and sliced red onions, drizzled with a nutty sunflower oil. There are also discs of pillowy Imeruli Khachapuri — the signature cheese-filled bread of the country. The ambience is ethereal with live music and quick service, at Sisters, a retro-style restaurant, decorated with distressed walls, mismatched furniture and memorabilia on walls in Kutaisi, in western Georgia, a city that is known for its art, culture and creative vibe.
Georgian food is a symphony of tastes and textures — this tiny country on the crossroads of the Silk Route between Europe and Asia, draws inspiration from the various cultures and nations that have invaded it as well as been its guests — with influences from China, Persia, Central Asia and Russia. Like its unique alphabet which is said to be inspired by curly vine tendrils, its cuisine is also a unique identity for the country. The Mediterranean climate of the country and its fertile soil makes for rich natural produce.
The Georgian feast called the supra (which means a table cloth), called so because the food is laid out all over the table — is leisurely and long, punctuated by toasts, a lot of wine, song and, of course, plenty of food. There are a lot of cold appetisers and salads as well as dips with breads followed by the main courses. The Georgians are most relaxed over a meal and most of my meals in the country take several hours with glasses of wine and many courses.
Not only does the country grow an abundance of food, but what appeals to me as a vegetarian is the loyalty and devotion to fresh ingredients — vegetables and fruits as well as cheese and dairy. “Georgians have many Orthodox religious holidays in a year like Lent, when we don’t eat meat. So, as a vegetarian you will never go hungry,” explains my Georgian guide, Guro Alapishvilli.
Walnuts are at the centre of Georgian gastronomy — they are pounded and used in pastes and stews and as dressings. Another star is local cheese. Georgia is said to have more than 200 varieties of cheese — there is soft and tender Imeruli cheese a cow’s milk cheese which has a springy texture and is used in Khachapuri. Guda cheese from the mountain region of eastern Georgia is rough and slightly sharp flavoured and is usually made from sheep or cow milk and is aged in sack made from sheep’s skin for weeks There is Sulguni a brined cheese which is everywhere. Discs of fresh cheese are sold in local markets and stores and also home-made
In the heart of Kutaisi, in western Georgia is the covered green market where plump, matronly women sell bundles of fresh, green herbs from parsley to dill and tarragon. I walk through stalls selling spice mixes in rainbow-colour-like coloured sand, stringy Sulguni cheese and pots of creamy matsoni yogurt. Reams of green cucumbers, peppers, geometric piles of ripe tomatoes, sacks of garlic, dried persimmons hang like garlands, beside reams of Churchkhela that look like waxy candles, made of grape juice, flour and dried fruits. There are a range of spices both familiar and unfamiliar from fenugreek and pepper to Svanetian salt and marigold powder.
The signature dish of Georgia is, of course, the boat-shaped khachapuri, a kind of Georgian pizza — a leavened flatbread, flaky on the outside, stuffed with tangy, gooey melted cheese with a zillion variation.
I watch local bread being baked in a tonir oven, which is like an Indian tandoor. The master baker slaps an elongated blob of wet dough to the walls of the hot oven and removes it with a long paddle — crusty and with black spots.
I also taste the vegetarian version of iconic Georgian dumplings called Khinkali, which are parcels of steamed dough, filled with potato and cheese. These round and pleated pouches dusted with black pepper, are usually filled with minced meat, chopped onion and spices. Khinkali are supposed to be a culinary gift of the Tartar Mongols who invaded the country in the 13th century.
Georgian cuisine uses a lot of fresh, aromatic herbs from coriander, basil, bay leaf and celery, to parsley, dill and tarragon. Lobio, reminiscent of Indian lentils, is a hearty stew of lentils, cooked with spices and tomatoes. It’s cooked over a woodfire or in traditional clay pots for hours usually using kidney beans and cooked with garlic, marigold petals, herbs like basil and parsley and chopped onion.
One of my favourite dishes is Ajapsandali — a hearty stew with vegetables like eggplant, peppers, onions, tomatoes and chilli peppers. I have it for the first time at a charming restaurant called Satasuri, near the hipster hostel Fabrika in Tbilisi. With earthy brick walls and a café vibe, the restaurant housed in a heritage building serves home-style Georgian food. I also love the simple ‘family style’ potatoes, new potatoes sautéed with onion and seasoned with Svanetian salt served at the Diaroni restaurant in Zugdidi in the Megrelian region.
To delve deeper into Georgian food, I sign up for a Georgian cooking class with Lali Nikoloziani at her gazebo attached to her house, overlooking the mountains in Mestia, Georgia’s highland region that resembles Switzerland. She patiently guides me as I stuff cheese into dough and roll out her version of Khachapuri as her grandson and daughter in law help with the oven and setting out a table.
We make cornbread called Chvishtari — made with flour, milk, eggs and cheese as well as a millet version. She chops vegetables expertly, mixing up different greens like dill, parsley with matsoni-curds and adding cucumbers and spring onion with aromatic Svaneti Salt that is mixed with many spices like blue fenugreek and cumin . She uses a range of spices to make Kubdari — a dough stuffed with minced meat. One of the spices she calls Georgian saffron is actually marigold petals, dried and ground into a spice. Finally, we make a mashed potato with cheese called Tashmijabi, that you have to stir till it becomes a stretchy dough that falls from a height like a string.
What I really appreciate about a Georgian meal is that rarely does it end in a dessert. Usually just fresh fruits like watermelon and nuts are served. Omnipresent, of course, is the Georgians snickers, the waxy strings made from nuts and reduced grape juice mixed with flour. There is no added sugar so it makes a very healthy snack. They say that Churchkela with its mix of protein and natural sugars was a staple in every soldier’s kit in the army!
I leave the country carrying packets of Svanetian salt, a spice mix from Kutaisi’s Market, and strings of Churchkhela, to remind me of my sojourn in this country.
Just a whiff of the Svanetian salt takes me back to the gazebo in Lali’s home in Mestia, overlooking the Caucasus mountains.
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