Georgia: interesting country, unique cuisine

Georgia: interesting country, unique cuisine

Georgian cuisine is probably the most important attraction of the country. Georgians have managed to make their cuisine not only magically delicious but also bright, original, exquisite, unique and unforgettable. Therefore, Georgian cuisine absorbed the best culinary traditions of many people of Transcaucasia, Asia and the Black Sea coast. The western part of Georgia was affected by Turkish cuisine, the eastern – by Iranian.

Therefore, in the western Georgia widespread are the corn flour flat cakes from– mchadi, while in the eastern Georgia people prefer white bread baked in huge clay jugs. The easterners use corn flour to cook thick mash - gomi - and eat it instead of bread with meat and vegetable dishes.

Eastern Georgians cook mutton, use many animal fats along with the core Georgian meat – beef, while in the Western Georgia they eat much less meat and favor poultry – chicken and turkeys. In the western Georgia they prefer rennet cheeses- suluguni and Imeretian. As for the eastern Georgia there they prefer spicy and salty cheeses – Kobian, Tushin and Georgian. Both western and eastern Georgias are famous for their special spice sauce from nuts and spices used with meats.

However, these insignificant differences can not be the reason of distinguishing between western and eastern cuisines. There is only one "Georgian cuisine" when it comes to reception of a guest of honor. And of course only the freshest ingredients, obligatory sauces, seasonings, spices and greens are used for cooking …

About Meat The main feature of Georgian cuisine is the presence of all kinds of meats (unlike in Moslem countries) – poultry, beef, mutton, and pork. Caucasian people love and can cook meat. Such dishes as shish kebab, satsvi, chickens tabaka, chikhirtma and chakhokhbili have long been rated as international. They are cooked in different countries of the world! The priority in Georgian cuisine is given to meat dishes. There are dozens of recipes!

Satsivi is a cold dish from poultry, chicken or turkey. The name of the dish comes from the original satsivi sauce served with fried chicken. The sauce has more than one and a half dozen varieties. It is prepared from the poultry broth with addition of various spices, seasonings and nuts.

Chakhokhbili are pieces of chicken (or other poultry) stewed in tomato sauce. Prior to this they are fried it a pan without fat. Then tomatoes are added and the dish is stewed in vegetable juice. The set of spices for chakhokhbili is as follows: parsley, savory, coriander, basil, red pepper, and garlic

Chicken Tapaka - chickens fried on a wide frying “tapa” pan (hence the name) under cover and load. This dish more often serves as a half-finished product for other dishes of Georgian cuisine, for example for borani. Therefore, tapaka, as a rule, is fried without seasonings, except for salt and red pepper. If chicken tapaka is used as independent dish, it normally is accompanied by crushed garlic and spicy greens (coriander, basil, tarragon, green onions or leek).

Kebab – a dish from ground meat. Balls made from fragrant mincemeat are coated with breadcrumbs and stewed in broth with spices.

Basturma – is jerked mutton or beef. The meat is richly rubbed with salt and stacked in salted layers within a pan. Then it is left for 21 days. Then the meat is soaked and dried for two-three weeks.

About Sauces The distinctive feature of Georgian cuisine is an abundance of various sauces. One and the same dish can served with various sauces, differs not only appearance, but also in taste and aroma. In Georgia the basic sauce ingredients are berry and fruit juice or pure from cherry plums, sloes, pomegranates, blackberries, barberries, tomatoes which is boiled until thick and mixed with vinegar and spices. Another basic component for sauces is grated nuts with broth or wine vinegar. Garlic is an irreplaceable component in the majority of Georgian sauces. In Georgian cuisine the same sauces are used with meat and fish as well as vegetable dishes creating absolutely different tastes. The sauces are the reason of such a variety of dishes in Georgian cuisine. Sauces can also be served as separate dishes. In this case they are eaten with bread.

About Nuts Georgians quite often use nuts for cooking their dishes – hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts which are the most popular. It is a must for various seasonings and sauces. Nuts are great for dishes from meat, vegetables and even fish. They are put in soups, sweets, salads and main courses. One can hardly imagine Georgian table without them.

About Spices are very important in Georgian cuisine. They are used all year round be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Depending on a season it can be parsley, fennel, ramson, mint, basil, savory, estragon and other greens. Not a single Georgian is prepared without spices. As a rule a sauce should include: tarragon, fennel, parsley, coriander, basil, mint – they also differ in fragrance. Other spices are no less popular: khmeli-suneli, cinnamon, cloves, saffron, red pepper and coriander.

About Soups are very popular in Georgia too. They are categorized as meat, vegetarian, dairy. Almost all soups are cooked without vegetables but seasoned with flour sauce or raw eggs. The use of tasty sourish matsoni, wine vinegar, fruit juices give Georgian soups their special flavor. The most popular soups in a Georgian cuisine are khashi, kharcho and chikhirtma.

Khashi – is a beef interior, leg and head bone broth strongly seasoned with garlic. Traditionally khashi is eaten in the morning. This is a very rich, nutritious and healthy dish.

Kharcho is a beef soup with rice and walnuts on the basis of tklapi (thick puree of cherry plums). Combination of tender beef broth and natural sourness of tklapi along with spicy green seasoning and slightly astringent nut flavor create the characteristic taste and smell of kharcho soup. When kharcho is ready it is sprinkled with garlic, coriander and basil.

Chikhirtma is a thick soup from mutton or more often poultry (chicken or turkey) with whipped eggs and flour. Chikhirtma is usually spiced with mint and saffron as well as coriander, parsley and basil.

Khashlama is a soup made from tender veal with parsley and celery roots, spiced with garlic and parsley.

About Baked Goods The pride of Georgian cuisine is white leavened bread – shoti, corn flat cakes - mchadi, thick corn mash – gomi used instead of bread.

Gomi is a thick bland mash from green foxtail and corn, served instead of bread to meat dishes of Georgian cuisine.

Mchadi is a thinnest flat cake from corn flour baked on frying pans on coals.

About Wines Georgians cannot imagine even the most exquisite meal without their wines famous all over the world. Centuries-old wine culture is an organic part of everyday life there. Wine, as it I said, is an obligatory item in the assortment of dishes. Depending on their colors wines are divided into white, pink and red. It depends not only on used grapes but also on wine manufacturing techniques. According to sugar content the wines are graded as dry, semi-sweet and natural sweet. Depending on carbonic gas content they can be sparkling and still. Still wines in turn are distinguished as being ordinary, branded and vintage. Ordinary are young wines which are consumed after three-month-time after grapes have been processed. Branded wines have higher quality made of certain grapes and aged at least one year.

The information in this booklet is based on Internet sources The presentation was created by Kantur Olena 2012